A disappointing performance from the Eagles ensured a home defeat at the hands of a Burnley side that did not look like conceding all evening.
DATE
29th June 2020
RESULT
Crystal Palace 0-1 Burnley
VENUE
Selhurst Park Stadium, Holmesdale Road, Selhurst, London SE25 6PU
CROWD
Behind closed doors
OFFICIALS
REFEREE – Simon Hooper
ASSISTANTS – Derek Eaton, Mark Scholes, Keith Stroud (fourth official)
VAR – Graham Scott, Simon Bennett (assistant)
REPLACEMENT OFFICIAL – Matt Foley
DISCIPLINE
James Tarkowski (57), James McCarthy (90)
GOALS
Ben Mee (62)
TEB MAN OF THE MATCH
Joel Ward
TEB VERDICT
Just when you hope that Palace can push on a step further and go where the club has never gone before, they make you feel guilty for wanting more. This result was just that. After the loss at Liverpool, this was a chance to get back on track and push on for a top ten finish against depleted opponents but the Eagles were found wanting, particularly after going a goal down. Even though there were plenty of chances to pull level, the visitors never looked likely to concede against a toothless attack.
VIDEO ASSISTANT REFEREE
The one referral was for an alleged elbow by Jordan Ayew and we have to say, the review took some time and while the Ghanaian did not receive his marching orders, he can consider himself lucky.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
It was good to see Selhurst Park in all its glory, but it’s not the same really, is it? Top marks to those that organised the seat coverings around the ground though.
BOB’S POINT OF VIEW
Bob White was a coach at Palace under the tenure of Steve Coppell and Alan Smith and will be sharing his point of view each week in our review article.
“A disappointing performance and result for different reasons to the Liverpool game last week. Our tempo from the first to the final whistle lacked the necessary intensity in and out of possession to pose Burnley any real questions. That is to take nothing away from Burnley who have only lost one game in their last ten but with or without a crowd, our home form remains a frustrating conundrum. Bottom line, we were very poor this evening.
Without a target player again, we looked very one dimensional in attacking options especially when Zaha and Townsend were kept quiet on either flank. Ayew for all his energies often ran into dead ends with the ball and arguably was fortunate to remain on the pitch with the use of a flailing arm in the second half. Our performance was probably summed up through an uncharacteristic yet expensive error by one of our players of the season. Guaita should have comfortably saved the header by Mee which proved to be the winner. The first goal scored was always going to be significant in deciding the outcome of the game.
On a bigger picture this defeat probably ends all hope of a Europa League qualification position and in all honesty only confirms the creative and goal scoring weaknesses in our squad. From this position I would be happy to finish with more points than last season but on this performance that looks a real challenge for Hodgson and our players to achieve. As we know with Palace it’s not unusual to expect the unexpected!”
PLAYER RATINGS
31 VICENTE GUAITA (6) – A couple of good saves on his return to the starting line up but knows he should have done better for the goal.
2 JOEL WARD (7) – Grabbed the TEB Man of the Match award for his solid performance down the right. Has probably been the surprise of the season so far.
6 SCOTT DANN (6) – Back in the side and put in a solid showing in what we think is the best centre back pairing at the club.
24 GARY CAHILL (7) – Good game at the heart of the defence but lost his man for the goal although he was obstructed by a teammate.
3 PATRICK VAN AANHOLT (6) – Did not look his usual self down the left, a little subdued.
8 CHEIKHOU KOUYATE (6) – Did okay in the first half but did not reappear for the second. Replaced by 22 JAMES MCCARTHY (6 – BOOKED!) on 46 minutes who received a yellow card for his trouble and played a part in their goal.
4 LUKA MILIVOJEVIC (6) – Not a good game from the Serb, had a couple of free kick opportunities and wasted both while being caught in possession a few times along with wayward passes.
18 JAMES MCARTHUR (6) – We all know what we are going to get from the Scotsman and never anything less than maximum effort. One great chance with a header which he could not get on target.
10 ANDROS TOWNSEND (6) – One effort of note that flew over the bar apart, there was very little to report other than some nice link up play with Joel Ward down the right. Replaced by 7 MAX MEYER (6) on 77 minutes who really must start making an impact when given an chance but he had very little time to do anything.
11 WILFRIED ZAHA (6) – Clearly not fully fit but still caused the opposition problems and carved out opportunities.
9 JORDAN AYEW (7) – Lucky not to have seen red and while it was not his night, it was not for the want of trying.
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
13 Wayne Henderson, 12 Mamadou Sakho, 44 Jairo Riedewald, 35 Sam Woods, 39 Tyrick Mitchell, 36 Nikola Tavares, 40 Brandon Pierrick
OPPOSITION LINE-UP
1 Pope, 26 Bardsley, 5 Tarkowski, 6 Mee, 3 Taylor, 8 Brownhill, 18 Westwood, 4 Cork, 23 Pieters 11 McNeil, 27 Vydra
Substitutes – 15 Peacock-Farrell, 28 Long (replaced Cork on 70 minutes), 33 Thompson, 34 Dunne, 37 Thomas, 40 Jensen, 44 Goodridge
POST GAME QUOTES
ROY HODGSON – “Seventeen shots is good but I don’t think we played anywhere near as well as we wanted to in the first half. We were better in the second half but unfortunately we conceded a goal from a set piece. We did everything we could to find a way through but it didn’t work out for us. It was a very good header and a good ball in. I’m not going to blame the goalkeeper. He didn’t have a lot to do, all goals are defensive errors somewhere along the line. Europe depends a lot on our personnel. We’re certainly not giving anything up. The matches are coming thick and fast these days. There will be strange results along the way but this was a great opportunity for us.”
SEAN DYCHE – “We are pleased with the outcome. In the first half we were excellent. We kept the ball and kept proding. They came out a bit stronger in the second half. We lost Jack Cork unfortunately which changed the feel of the performance a little bit but we responded well. Ben Mee is a fantastic captain and we know his ability and strength in the air. It was a brilliant header. We have a group that give everything and we saw that again tonight.”
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Ben Mee (8.2) while Jordan Ayew and Dwight McNeil (4) had the most shots. The most tackles were by Joel Ward (5) as Dwight McNeil (5) had the most dribbles.
- Team rating: 6.37 – 7.15
- Total shots: 17 – 8
- Shots on target: 4 – 4
- Possession: 58.4% – 41.6%
- Pass success: 87% – 66%
- Dribbles: 7 – 9
- Aerials won: 13 – 18
- Tackles: 13 – 15
- Corners: 9 – 1
- Dispossessed: 9 – 6
POSITION IN THE TABLE
Palace are 11th in the Premier League with 42 points from 32 games, a point behind Arsenal in 10th and a point ahead of Everton in 12th.
UPCOMING FIXTURES
04/07/2020 Leicester City (a – 3pm)
07/07/2020 Chelsea (h – 6pm)
12/07/2020 Aston Villa (a – 2.15pm)
