CRYSTAL PALACE 4 HULL CITY 0

BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT SELHURST PARK

 It came to down to one big game of high stakes down at Selhurst Park, where Crystal Palace knew if they avoided defeat they would stay in the Premier League, while Hull City knew that anything other than a win would send them down due to their inferior goal difference. The Eagles seized the moment as they put a poor and overwhelmed Hull City side to sword. 

In Sam Allardyce programme notes he said: “ We have to handle the pressure that occasions such as these bring and so do you fans.”

Within 3 minutes of the game Andrea Ranocchia made a mistake in the Hull defence as he lost the ball to Wilfried Zaha who bore down on goal and calmly slotted it past Eldin Jakupovic to give Palace an early lead and help calm the nerves of the Palace faithful. For Hull City who knew that nothing short of a win would keep them up. It was the worst possible start for the Tigers.  Shortly after that from a corner kick, James Tomkins headed the ball just wide of the Hull goal.

In the 34^th minute Jason Puncheon floated a corner into the Hull area, which was met by a simple header from Christian Benteke, which flew in to double Palace’s lead and put them firmly in charge of this game, with Hull City staring down the barrel.  Hull city did not offer much of a threat in the first half ended 2-0 to Palace.

At the start of the second half Marco Siva sent Shaun Maloney and Jarrod Bowen on for Andrea Rannocchia and Andrew Robertson.  Shortly after that he had to make his last substitution as Curtis Davies replaced the injured Harry Maguire.

Benteke nearly scored a third as he brought down a cross-field pass from Zaha but fired wide.  With less than ten minutes of the game left Jeffrey Schlupp was brought down by Michael Dawson in the area. Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot for a penalty. Luka Milvojevic stepped forward and sent Jakupovic the wrong way to put the nail in Hull’s coffin and confirming Palace’s stay in the Premier League for another season.

Right at the death, second half substitute Patrick Van Aanholt was played in and he slotted the ball past Jakupovic to make it 4-0! At the final whistle the Hull City players slumped to the ground on the realisation that they have to get acquainted to life in the Championship next season.

Sam Allardyce kept his record of never being relegated intact as he worked his magic yet again. Next season he will surely have a different agenda and objective of taking them to at least mid table. As for Hull City, this day had been coming for a long time and it was not an accident. It started the day Steve Bruce left the club after he realised that he would not be supported with funds to strengthen the team, after he brought them up via the play offs. Silva did his best but ultimately their poor form away form cost them dearly as they make a quick exit back to the Championship.  Summing up their season today, while Palace knocked four past them they did not manage a single shot on target. If it was any consolation for Silva, the Hull faithful appreciated his efforts and chorused that they want him to stay on.

Allardyce said: “The concentration in the transfer market was the key element in our turn around. The acquisitions made the difference. We stopped conceding goals and started winning games. Our win at Chelsea who were top of the league gave us a great lift. The way we saw Hull City off today really pleased me. We did not give them a sniff, chance or hope today under enormous pressure in front of our fans. We can get ready for Manchester United where there is no pressure for us. The next level of recruitment is important to how consistent the team can be.”