It was a tale of two halves at Carrow Road as the Eagles were caught napping early on but a second half shift should have ensured all three points were heading back South.
DATE
9th February 2022
RESULT
Norwich City 1-1 Crystal Palace
VENUE
Carrow Road, Norwich NR1 3JE
OFFICIALS
Referee: Paul Tierney. Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Marc Perry. Fourth official: Andre Marriner. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Richard West
DISCIPLINE
BOOKINGS – Brandon Williams (54), Jean-Philippe Mateta (75), Conor Gallagher (83)
RED CARD – none
GOALS
Teemu Pukki (1), Wilfried Zaha (60)
ASSISTS
Adam Idah (1)
TEB VERDICT
Palace were always on the back foot after conceding so early in the game but never really got going before the break. It was a very different showing in the second half however as the Eagles controlled much of the play and got themselves level through some Zaha brilliance on his return to the side. It should have been quick double but a slip from the penalty spot put paid to that.
There remains the question about Vieira knowing his strongest starting eleven as the whole squad edge closer to being fully fit and available. The point from this game was far from disastrous the way it started but Palace must be better in some of these situations. That is football of course sometimes but consistently picking up points will be key between now and the end of the season.
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.
“After such a pedestrian first half performance, whatever was said at half time by Patrick Vieira certainly injected some purpose into the second forty-five minutes. Conceding such a poor goal within the first minute certainly didn’t help matters because Norwich could afford to let us have the majority of possession without ever troubling their keeper. Two crucial interventions by Mitchell prevented Norwich adding to their goal enabling us to stay in the game.
In complete contrast we started and continued most of the second half on the front foot moving the ball quicker from back to front. More goal scoring opportunities created and overwhelming possession whilst exploiting space in the final third resulted in Norwich being pinned back in their own half for long spells. A top strike from Zaha in an otherwise below par personal performance brought us back level and I’m sure all three points would have been gained if he had converted from the penalty spot. When the final whistle went it signalled the points being shared between the teams with Norwich probably the happier with the draw.
It probably summed up why we are not competing for a top eight place with this being our 10th draw of the season and still remain glancing over our shoulder at the teams below. I thought Mitchell and Guehi were both worthy mentions in dispatches for their performances this evening. It will be interesting to see the starting line up Vieira selects for the Brentford game this weekend. I sense both Ayew and Edouard will start and maybe if judged fit enough we could see the return of McArthur which would be a real boost to the midfield area. Up the Palace!”
PLAYER RATINGS
1 Vicente Guaita (6), 2 Joel Ward (6), 16 Joachim Andersen (6), 6 Marc Guehi (7), 3 Tyrick Mitchell (8), 23 Conor Gallagher (7), 12 Will Hughes (6), 15 Jeffrey Schlupp (7), 8 Michael Olise (7), 14 Jean-Philippe Mateta (6), Wilfried Zaha (7)
SUBSTITUTES – 1 Jack Butland, 4 Luka Milivojevic, 5 James Tomkins, 9 Jordan Ayew 6 – replaced Olise on 70 mins), 10 Eberechi Eze (6 – replaced Schlupp on 80 mins), 17 Nathaniel Clyne, 18 James McArthur, 20 Christian Benteke, 22 Odsonne Edouard (6 – replaced Mateta on 80 mins)
OPPOSITION LINE-UP
28 Gunn, 2 Aarons, 5 Hanley, 4 Gibson, 21 Williams, 11 Placheta, 20 Lees-Melou, 23 McLean, 17 Rashica, 35 Idah, 22 Pukki
SUBSTITUTES – 3 Byram, 6 Zimmermann, 8 Gilmour (replaced Placheta on 64 mins), 10 Dowell, 16 Normann (replaced Lees-Melou on 75 mins), 18 Tzolis, 30 Giannoulis, 33 McGovern, 46 Rowe (replaced Idah on 84 mins)
POST GAME QUOTES
PATRICK VIEIRA – “We played quite a good game but not good enough. There is a lot of frustration in the dressing room with the way we started. We let ourselves down with conceding the first goal. We showed character and personality. We got into the game and created chances. We were much better in the second half. It was a fantastic goal, Wilf at his best. We need him to produce more goals and performances like that. He was really good for us. The penalty is always a penalty. He misses it but that’s part of the game. We didn’t create enough chances. We didn’t give them enough trouble in the box to create more chances. I’m frustrated because there was space for us to win the game.
“The performance today is good. But we need to improve and do a little more. We have to play with more belief in ourselves to win football matches. Something was missing today. We showed good spirit in the second half and fought. We were by far the better team in the second half. Tyrick Mitchell has been fantastic since the start of the season. He believed more in his ability and today he was unbelievable in both areas. He created the penalty. Going forward he’s excellent. He’s building confidence and there’s more to come from him.”
DEAN SMITH – “They had an awful lot of ball but the way we decided to go with two up front, we give a man up in midfield and the opposition will have the ball. All of their efforts were outside the box. We’re a tough team to beat the moment. The players worked extremely hard. With two up front it gives us a goal threat, we saw that with the goal. We control where the ball goes. Unfortunately Palace found the solutions and gave us problems. We had to change the system. Fortunately they missed the penalty. I thought we deserved a draw in the end.”
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Tyrick Mitchell (7.8) as Will Hughes and Wilfried Zaha (4) had the most shots. The most tackles were made Tyrick Mitchell and Joel Ward (5) while the most dribbles were by Jean-Philippe Mateta (3)
- Team rating: 6.48 – 6.58
- Total shots: 5 – 13
- Shots on target: 1 – 5
- Possession: 28.1% – 71.9%
- Pass success: 62% – 85%
- Passes: 250 – 661
- Dribbles: 4 – 11
- Aerials won: 11 – 21
- Tackles: 14 – 16
- Fouls: 11 – 15
- Corners: 4 – 6
- Saves: 4 – 0
- Dispossessed: 8 – 9
POSITION IN THE TABLE
At the final whistle Palace were 13th in the Premier League with 25 points from 23 games played, a point behind Leicester in 12th and two ahead of Brentford in 14th
UPCOMING FIXTURES
12/02/22 Brentford (a) – Premier League (3pm)
19/02/22 Chelsea (h) – Premier League (3pm)
23/02/22 Watford (a) – Premier League (7.30pm)
