CRYSTAL PALACE 2 MANCHESTER CITY 1

BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT SELHURST PARK

Crystal Palace beat the champions to virtually guarantee their safety in the Premiership and left Manchester City’s chances of retaining the title in tatters.  Palace is fast turning into fortress as the South Londoners have given all comers a run for their money at home recently.

The Crystal Palace Manager, Alan Pardew said in his programme notes that: “We hope to be welcoming the reigning kings of English football to our home for many years to come as we grow this club.”

Palace came out of the blocks like a thoroughbred racehorse and should have scored within the first few seconds as a cross came in from Martin Kelly from the left but Wilfred Zaha hit his shot over from close range.  Palace’s chances in front of goal became sporadic as the champions settled down and began to move the ball around and dominate possession.

With eleven minutes of the game gone a through ball was played to Sergio Aguero and the onrushing Speroni came out without getting the ball. However when Aguero passed the ball to David Silva, Speroni recovered by making a crucial save to keep the game scoreless.

Just after the quarter of an hour mark, Silva found his way into the area and found Aguero, hit a fierce shot, which left Speroni rooted to the spot as it hit the base of the post.  Manchester City continued to lay a siege in the Palace half, as the South Londoners could not get out.   

Just on the hour mark, Speroni was called into action, as he had to dive to his right to make a smart save from Silva.  The City pressure was relentless.  Two minutes later Zaha failed to clear his lines as he presented the ball to Aguero who shot over the bar. That was another lucky escape for Palace.

Moments later, Palace had a corner, which Jason Puncheon made a mess of but when a long ball was headed on by Joe Ledley to Scott Dann he passed it to Glenn Murray, who slotted it past Joe Hart from close range. That goal was totally against the run of play.

Five minutes before the break, Jesus Navas took a corner, which found its way to Martin Demechilis but his blazed his shot over.

Palace went in 1-0 at the break, fortuitously as replays on the monitor showed that Dann was in an offside position when he passed to Glenn Murray.

Just after the break, Palace were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Man City area after Murray was chopped down. Up stepped Jason Puncheon with a sweet left foot to curl it around Joe Hart to double Palace’s lead.  The timing of that second goal could not be more crucial and was pivotal to Palace’s victory. The champions had to respond and they went close when Yaya Toure’s dipping free kick was just over. 

Fernandinho hit a shot, which was goal bound but James McArthur cleared the ball under his post for a corner.

When you have players like Toure in your team you know you can always pull something out of the bag even if the whole team does not turn up.  With 12 minutes remaining Navas got down the right and fed the ball to Toure who cut inside and hit a bolt of a shot, which flew in and reduced the deficit. At last the champions had something to show for their dominant possession. It was game on.

Pardew made some changes to try and shut up shop by bringing on Pape Souare for Bolassie and Yaya Sanogo for Glenn Murray. 

Toure took a shot, which, was deflected, and Speroni palmed the ball for a corner. This was nervous stuff as City kept knocking on the door.  The Crystal Palace defence stood resolute as City kept coming and in the end the Palace fans almost lifted the roof at the final whistle.  Man City’s title hopes were left in tatters and they are now in danger of not even making the Champions league next season.

A disappointed Manuel Pellegrini said: “It is a massive set back. I do not understand it. We are not thinking of Chelsea. We are just thinking of winning our games.”

A jubilant Alan Pardew said: “There was no secret tonight. It was about character and resilience. The first goal was going to be crucial and we got it. We had a scare tonight – 23 of them I counted!  They were causing us trouble in midfield but we had to make an adjustment after 12 minutes. Puncheon was much better after his goal.  The two wide boys had to do the other side by digging in going the other way defending. When they have the ball they are special players but their defending was a big part of why we won the game. Murray categorized what a modern number nine should do in a game. He was outstanding. He got a goal again. I am so pleased for him because a lot earlier in his career he had a lot of injuries. It was a great night for us. It is a fabulous night for this football club. I would like to think that with 39 points, we will be here next season.”