MATCH FACTS
- Date – 19th November 2016
- Venue – Selhurst Park
- Attendance -25,529
- Referee – Robert Madley
- Bookings – Otamendi, Nolito, Wickham
- Goals – Toure (39, 83), Wickham (66)
- Star Eagle – Wilfried Zaha (7.9)
TEB VERDICT
A performance worthy of at least a point against a team that will be challenging for the title come the end of the season. Once again, mistakes handed the visitors the victory but there were plenty of positives that have to be taken into the next run of games that should all be deemed winable.
PLAYER RATINGS (courtesy of Who Scored)
30 Wayne Hennessey (5.8) – Was not particularly tested by the visitors but guilty of not commanding his area, particularly the lack of organisation that led to the second goal.
2 Joel Ward (7.2) – A very good showing from the right back against a talented attacking unit and a goal line clearance that started an attack that ended in the equaliser.
5 James Tomkins (5.9) – Solid enough showing from the former West Ham man teaming up with Dann to keep the threat of Aguero at bay.
27 Scott Dann (6.3) – Best showing for the captain since returning from injury and seems to be building up a good partnership with Tomkins after rarely having game time together.
34 Martin Kelly (6.4) – Struggled once again to fill the void left by Pape Souare. His short clearance led to the opening City goal. Replaced by Bakary Sako (6.1) on 86 minutes who had his stint at left back in the dying minutes. Not expecting that to be a permanent fixture.
18 James McArthur (7.3) – The machine in the middle of the park, worked hard with Cabaye to combat the solid opposing midfield.
7 Yohan Cabaye (6.9) – Another good game for the Frenchman who battled hard throughout with plenty of tough tackling.
42 Jason Puncheon (7.0) – Always tried to create something when he was playing both centrally as well as a shift out wide in the second half. Had a great chance of an equaliser late on which went just wide.
11 Wilfried Zaha (7.5) – The wide man continues his impressive form this season with another star performance. Had a good running battle with Kolarov throughout.
10 Andros Townsend (6.2) – Inneffective throughout the first half and replaced by Connor Wickham (6.9) on 45 minutes. Scored an excellent goal and generally made himself a nuisance.
17 Christian Benteke (6.8) – Worked hard as the lone target man with his best chance a bullet header well saved. Replaced by Chung-yong Lee (6.1) on 81 minutes who had little time to impress when Palace were looking to take a point.
Unused substitutes – Julian Speroni, Damien Delaney, Jordon Mutch, Mathieu Flamini
FYPTV
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
‘We gifted them two goals and you can’t do that. We had a good psychology and we could have had something out of the game. We are fighting, we showed that. Our recent run is really poor but the performances don’t warrant that. We should be in the top three for set pieces and we are probably in the bottom three’ – ALAN PARDEW courtesy of BBC Sport
‘I am so happy for Yaya, he is a really nice guy. His weight is perfect now, there are no doubts about his quality. At the beginning we did not count on him, he would not be here, but he can play many positions. I am so happy for him and his family. We have one more man to help us achieve our targets.’ – PEP GUARDIOLA courtesy of BBC Sport.
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Yaya Toure (8.4) while Sergio Aguero had the most shots (4). James McArthur made the most tackles (7) and Raheem Sterling had the most dribbles (6).
- Team rating: 6.59 – 6.94
- Total shots: 8 – 10
- Shots on target: 2 – 4
- Possession: 38.3% – 61.7%
- Pass success: 59% – 75%
- Dribbles: 11 – 13
- Aerials won: 20 – 19
- Tackles: 26 – 15
- Corners: 2 – 7
- Dispossessed: 10 17
POSITION IN THE TABLE
Palace are sixteenth in the Premier League after this latest defeat with eleven points, level with Middlesbrough in fifteenth and West Ham United in seventeenth. Next opponents Swansea City are bottom of the table with just six points.
