MATCH FACTS
- DATE – 14th April 2019
- VENUE – Selhurst Park
- CROWD – 25,721
- OFFICIAL – Martin Atkinson
- CARDS – none
- GOALS – Sterling (15, 63), Milivojevic (81), Jesus (90)
- STAR EAGLE – Aaron Wan-Bissaka (7.4)
TEB VERDICT
This was always going to be a tall order against a side chasing a quadruple but Palace had their moments where they worried the visitors. Unfortunately, it was a struggle in the first half but being just a goal down at the break gave the hosts a fighting chance. The tactics adopted by Roy Hodgson were about right to face a quality City side, only going at them when two goals down may have seemed disappointing but had the Eagles opened up sooner it would likely have played into their hands. It is no disgrace losing to a side with as much talent as the opponents on the day, Palace were certainly not well beaten but you have to think that a few players were not on top of their game. Special mention to the second string centre back pairing who many thought would be pulled apart but they put in a real shift.
PLAYER RATINGS (courtesy of Who Scored)
31 VICENTE GUAITA (6.4) – Made important saves which kept the hosts in with a shot, good quick distribution but suffered with his kicking a little.
29 AARON WAN-BISSAKA (7.4) – By no means perfect but the visitors continued to get very little change out of the full back.
6 SCOTT DANN (6.6) – Caught for pace on the opening goal but worked well with Kelly in the face of what was quite an onslaught at times.
34 MARTIN KELLY (6.5) – Stood up well just like Dann against the talent on show, did well with blocks and last ditch challenges. This pairing was a concern before kick off but they performed well.
3 PATRICK VAN AANHOLT (6.1) – Continues to struggle in what has been a poor season for the left back, found it hard to push forward as much as he would like.
15 JEFFREY SCHLUPP (6.1) – Unfortunate early injury ended his game before it got going. Replaced by 8 CHEIKHOU KOUYATE (6.5) on 22 minutes who made a real difference in the middle, hassling the opposition at every opportunity and getting a vital foot in.
4 LUKA MILIVOJEVIC (7.3 – GOAL!) – Found it difficult to help the side retain possession early on but played a part when chasing the game, and once again, managing to weigh in with a goal.
18 JAMES MCARTHUR (6.4) – Worked himself into the ground by chasing the ball for most of the first half. Involved in the build up play which led to the goal that gave Palace some hope. Replaced by 26 BAKARY SAKO (5.9) on 85 minutes who had no time to make any impact.
10 ANDROS TOWNSEND (7.4) – His link up play down the right with Wan-Bissaka is integral to this Palace side as is Townsend’s hard work. Put in a few good crosses but none of them managed to find Benteke. Replaced by 7 MAX MEYER (6.0) on 77 minutes who had some good touches and showed plenty of urgency.
11 WILFRIED ZAHA (6.6) – Cut a lone figure on the pitch as everything he tried seemed to not come off but his moments of trickery worried the City back line, unfortunately there were not enough of them.
17 CHRISTIAN BENTEKE (6.9) – Worked hard with a real lack of support on some occassions. Found the flick ons and hold up play regularly in what was an all round good performance from the Belgian.
Unused substitutes – 13 Wayne Hennessey, 2 Joel Ward, 14 Jordan Ayew, 23 Michy Batshuayi
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
ROY HODGSON – “We got better as the game went on and in the second half we gave it a good shot. When you go on the counter looking for an equaliser you concede a goal. We weren’t good enough to dent City’s progress. Keeping a ball and stopping them from playing around you… we did the best job we could. Had we gone hell for leather then they would have gone behind and around us.”
PEP GUARDIOLA – “Today’s game was really good after the Champions League defeat – the stage was not easy. We play December, January, February – every three days one game. Why not trust the guys to do it again. We have the personality for the games. I knew we would produce a good performance.”
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Kevin de Bruyne (9.2) while Raheem Sterling (5) had the most shots. The most tackles were from Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Andros Townsend and Kevin de Bruyne (5) as Wilfried Zaha and Ilkay Gundogan (4) made the most dribbles.
- Team rating: 6.57 – 7.16
- Total shots: 7 – 20
- Shots on target: 3 – 6
- Possession: 27.5% – 72.5%
- Pass success: 71% – 90%
- Dribbles: 10 – 15
- Aerials won: 17 – 14
- Tackles: 23 – 22
- Corners: 2 – 9
- Dispossessed: 16 – 14
POSITION IN THE TABLE
Palace are 13th in the table with 39 points from 34 games, two points behind Bournemouth in 12th and level on points with Burnley in 14th. The Eagles are not quite mathematically with the gap to 18th eleven points.
NEXT THREE FIXTURES
- 21/04/2019 Arsenal (a)
- 27/04/2019 Everton (h)
- 04/05/2019 Cardiff City (a)
