A difficult third round tie was navigated safely with a battling display to secure victory after a poor first half which included a goalkeeping error handing the hosts all the encouragement they needed as well as the lead.
DATE
8th January 2022
RESULT
Millwall 1-2 Crystal Palace
VENUE
New Den, Zampa Road, London SE16 3LN
OFFICIALS
Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn: Fourth Official: Michael Tingey
DISCIPLINE
BOOKINGS – Jeffrey Schlupp (26), Billy Mitchell (56), Jack Butland (82)
RED CARD – none
GOALS
Benik Ofobe (17), Michael Olise (46), Jean-Philippe Mateta (58)
ASSISTS
Conor Gallagher (46), Michael Olise (58)
TEB VERDICT
The expected hostile atmosphere did not disappoint but much of the home crowd noise crossed the line far too many times and should not be tolerated in this day and age. As for the football, Palace were guilty of not playing their natural game in what was a poor first half.
A terrible error by Jack Butland handed the hosts the lead which gave them a spring in their step for the rest of the half. A superb equaliser straight after the break from Michael Olise was not only perfect timing but showed once again what a special talent we have on our hands. It was Olise that turned provided for what turned out to be the winner for JP Mateta.
It was a miserable day weather wise in South London but this was a victory in a derby and in the FA Cup, so the performance probably does not matter a huge amount. We are in the hat for the fourth round draw and that is all we asked for.
PLAYER RATINGS
1 Jack Butland (6), 2 Joel Ward (7), 6 Marc Guehi (6), 16 Joachim Andersen (6), 3 Tyrick Mitchell (6), 15 Jeffrey Schlupp (6), 12 Will Hughes (6), 23 Conor Gallagher (7), 7 Michael Olise (8), 14 Jean-Philippe Mateta (7), 10 Eberechi Eze (6)
SUBSTITUTES – 4 Luka Milivojevic (6 – replaced Hughes on 81 mins), 17 Nathaniel Clyne (6 – replaced Olise on 88 mins), 19 Remi Matthews, 20 Christian Benteke (6 – replaced Eze on 64 mins), 22 Odsonne Edouard (6 – replaced Mateta on 65 mins), 34 Martin Kelly, 44 Jairo Riedewald (6 – replaced Schlupp on 88 mins), 48 Jack Wells-Morrison, 49 Jesurun Ra-Sakyi
OPPOSITION LINE-UP
1 Long, 4 Hutchinson, 15 Pearce, 5 Cooper, 2 McNamara, 24 Mitchell, 17 Saville, 11 Malone, 14 Ojo, 23 Afobe, 9 Bradshaw
SUBSTITUTES – 6 Kieftenbeld (replaced Saville on 50 mins), 10 Smith (replaced Bradshaw on 81 mins), 20 Bennett (replaced Pearce on 62 mins), 28 Evans, 32 Burey (replaced Afobe on 81 mins), 33 Bialkowski, 38 Boateng (replaced Ojo on 81 mins), 40 Topalloj, 49 Lovelace
POST GAME QUOTES
PATRICK VIEIRA – “I was happy with the first half that we played but we didn’t use the ball well enough and in the second half what we wanted to do as a team was to win the game. We conceded a goal by a mistake that we made and we wanted to win the game because we wanted to support Jack – this is the way we want to play and sometimes it can lead to mistakes. But I was really pleased with the character and determination we showed in the second half. In the first half it was difficult for Michael to find space, we changed the shape a little bit in the second half so he played wider and we created situations where he was one-v-one, he’s capable of coming inside or going outside and the goal he scored showed his quality.”
GARY ROWETT – “I thought we played really well for most of the game. I thought the first half was a really good performance in many ways, both on the ball and off the ball I thought we were excellent. We concede a really poor goal – you can’t do that against Premier League opposition. Olise is a really good player and you’ve got to force him on to his right foot. The second goal, again, it’s a ball into the box, it’s a header that we’ve got to go and mark and then we had moments ourselves. I thought we stayed in the game quite well but you can’t give two goals to a Premier League side and that’s the disappointing thing.”
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Michael Olise (8.7) while the most shots were by Benik Ofobe and Michael Olise (3). The most tackles were made by Dan McNamara (7) and the most dribbles were by Jake Cooper and Michael Olise (2)
- Team rating: 6.41 – 6.63
- Total shots: 9 – 12
- Shots on target: 5 – 4
- Possession: 43.1% – 56.9%
- Pass success: 76% – 78%
- Passes: 352 – 476
- Dribbles: 7 – 7
- Aerials won: 24 – 21
- Tackles: 21 – 17
- Fouls: 10 – 12
- Corners: 3 – 4
- Saves: 2 – 4
- Dispossessed: 5 – 15
UPCOMING FIXTURES
14/01/21 Brighton (a) – Premier League (8pm)
23/01/21 Liverpool (h) – Premier League (2pm)
09/02/21 Norwich (a) – Premier League (7.45pm)
