The Eagles have enjoyed a good run of results at Craven Cottage and that continued at the weekend courtesy of a brilliant late header from captain Marc Guehi.
Post Match Assessment
Top performers (according to Fotmob):
- Adam Wharton (8.4)
- Yeremy Pino (8.1)
- Marc Guehi (8.0)
This game really showed the resilience of the Eagles, and it proves to the rest of the league that they are genuine European contenders this year, perhaps even top four challengers. Who is to say that they cannot maintain this form, especially with their formidable defence.
Palace have now only conceded 11 goals this league season, 6 from open play, adding one to that statistic by a wonder strike from Fulham’s Harry Wilson. That defence was without Daniel Munoz, and it was obvious that we were missing that extra attacking spark on the right-hand side.
However, Tyrick Mitchell really stepped up providing forward momentum down the other side, always running down that left flank and whipping in some dangerous crosses, one of which led to the series of corners that won Palace the game late on.
Patel’s Perspective
I did not think we particularly deserved to win, however, we certainly did not deserve to lose. I guess it proves that even on our underperforming days, we can string out a win, which is such a positive sign for us.
Adam Wharton was amazing yet again and fully deserved man of the match. His passing ability was out of this world, pinging the ball all over the pitch. His trivela to Mitchell in the build up for the opening goal was beautiful. I also thought Mitchell was a standout and of course our defence was rock solid along with Dean Henderson between the sticks.
It was nice to see Christanus Uche get more minutes than the two second cameo he usually ends up with. He played well and showed signs of how dangerous he could be. He was much better suited up front than when he comes on in the number 10 role, providing a scary presence just like Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Eddie Nketiah perhaps should have stayed on as I believe that when he is playing with confidence, he can be one of the best forwards in the league, and he certainly was playing with that after such a clean finish, but we can understand the decision by Oliver Glasner.
On the other hand, moving onto some drawbacks from the game, there were no minutes yet again for Romain Esse. Will he ever get game time again under Glasner? I thought he may have done in the absence of Ismaila Sarr. He could have come on for Nketiah or even Daichi Kamada, but Glasner remains firm with his beliefs.
Moving on, it was another underwhelming performance from Mateta. It just felt like he wasn’t in the game at all. He could barely string a pass, let alone have a decent shot on target. Don’t get me wrong, I love him, he is a quality player, he just needs to start picking up his form again. Maybe he needs a rest against Shelbourne to regain some energy for the big game at the weekend against Manchester City.
Finally, Nathaniel Clyne put in a shift in place of Munoz, but he did not provide the threat going forward that the Colombian does. Hopefully we will see Munoz return against City on Sunday.
Upcoming Thoughts
Looking at Europe this week and City on the weekend, it is definitely a chance for some squad rotation.
Shelbourne are not the hardest team to play, and we should comfortably beat them easing pressure off our Conference League run.
The City game is one that will definitely be hard to win, and going up against a Pep Guardiola side in red hot form and with a front three of Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland, Palace will have to continue their strong defensive form.
A win against City would close the gap to just two points, proving a point that Palace are not messing around and aim to be a Champions League contender.
