Solid Defensive Display Undone By Soft Late Spot Kick

There were hopes that the Eagles could hide a thumping at the hands of the defending Champions at Selhurst Park but they almost went one better by grabbing a point but the visitors were handed a late penalty which they grabbed with both hands.

TIME/ DATE/ VENUE

• 5.30pm
• 11^th March 2023
• Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU

RESULT

Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester City

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 5 James TOMKINS, 14 Jean-Philippe MATETA, 26 Chris RICHARDS, 41 Joe WHITWORTH, 44 Jairo RIEDEWALD

OPPOSITION LINE-UP

UNSED SUBSTITUTES – 4 Kalvin PHILLIPS, 14 Aymeric LAPORTE, 18 Stefan ORTEGA 26 Riyad MAHREZ, 80 Cole PALMER, 82 Rico LEWIS

TEB VERDICT

In the first of three games in a week, Palace were found wanting again but not quite as much as many had thought before kick-off. In a surprise inclusion, Luka Milivojevic put in a shift in midfield with the much maligned Jordan Ayew and Jeffrey Schlupp also making starts.

Even though this ended up being the third game in a row without a shot on target, the Eagles battled hard and almost took a point from City who were expected to walk this fixture if you believed some quarters.

There is no doubt that Patrick Vieira is under pressure, and with Brighton and Arsenal away coming up fast, things will not get any easier.

While the penalty was harsh on the hosts, they had ridden their luck for parts of the game but they did put in a solid defensive display. Michael Olise continued to be the bright spark in the side and as well as the centre back pairing and goalkeeper, worthy mentions go to Lokonga who looks a very good addition, as well as the cameo from Ahamada who looks a very bright midfielder.

Something has to be brought back from the Amex on Wednesday, otherwise you could start to fear for Vieira’s position at the club. Where there are serious question marks in the boardroom or not, the media are starting to whip fans into a frenzy, but the statistics do not lie.

• failed to win last 10 league games
• failed to score in 12 of 26 games – no team has failed to do so more often in the English Premier League this season
• failed to score in last 3 league games, a run of 323 minutes without a goal

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 resolute performance against a team aiming to win three trophies combined with the obvious class sprinkled across a starting XI and bench. There is no doubting that our defensive resilience continues to be a real strength but three consecutive matches with no efforts on target is a poor return reflecting a genuine lack of goal scoring opportunities. 

Sadly, once City scored deep into the game following the award of a soft penalty we never looked capable of creating enough pressure to achieve what would have been a valuable point in a looming relegation battle.

Maybe Vieira can be criticised for his cautious approach but without selecting players in their best positions I believe our lack of attacking intent and ultimately goals will continue until the end of season. 

The defensive unit was certainly solid with the whole back 4 together nullifying most of City’s threat to a few chances. On the offensive front, Vieira needs to find a way of accommodating our best players in positions where they will be more effective. For starters, Olise and Zaha need to be set up in wide positions, posing the opposition problems from outside to inside. Zaha’s skill set is best suited to operating from wide areas not those of a lone central striker. The conundrum remains who plays in that central striker role. Mateta isn’t the answer and Edouard is so obviously out of favour. Otherwise we are left with the option of a false nine possibly accommodating Eze, Ayew, Olise and Zaha as an interchangeable attacking quartet. 

Honourable mentions in dispatches today go to Guehi, Guaita and Lokonga.

We now face two tough away fixtures over the next week. Anything gained in points will be a bonus as things stand unless we find a way to create at least a few efforts on target. As the old coach’s adage goes, “If you don’t buy a raffle ticket, you can’t win a prize”.

POST GAME QUOTES

PATRICK VIEIRA

“I’m really frustrated. We needed to defend well against City, we did it really well. The frustration is conceding the penalty and that is something we should avoid, that lack of concentration.

The moment on the corner where there was a lack of attention. That’s what I expect from the players as well. That’s where I need someone to take leadership and a voice to defend better.

I’ve been here for 16 months now and we changed a lot of things. The process takes time. Michael made the foul inside the box that shows the lack of experience on those kinds of periods and moments. That’s how he is going to learn.”

PEP GUARDIOLA

“My experience is that every time we come here it has been very tough. Always I have the feeling when we come here, we play really good thinking how good they are. We always struggle because we want to score more goals.

They have weapons. Zaha is there, Olise, Eze, they are incredible strikers and they have incredible threat. They have composure, great attacking players. It is a question of patience. They will waste time so we have to push to do it.

Everything pleased me, we missed the counter attack a bit. It is not easy, they defend six players in the box and Haaland had two men marking him, Gundo had a man, it was a question of patience.”

MATCH STATISTICS

POSITION IN THE TABLE (at the final whistle)

UPCOMING FIXTURES

15/03/23 Brighton (a) – Premier League (7.30pm)

19/03/23 Arsenal (a) – Premier League (2pm)

01/04/23 Leicester City (h) – Premier League (3pm)