If Monday’s game at Goodison had seen two teams near the top of their form in a tough battle, today saw a slightly more prosaic match lit up by the off spark of brilliance where the gusting wind was a variable factor. It also showed how important the Cabaye – McArthur axis is to this Palace team. I certainly struggle to recall a better midfield duo at Selhurst, not necessarily in their individual talents – Lombardo was a more skilful player than Jimmy, for instance – but in their prowess as a combination. Jedinak & Ledley were certainly a major influence on Tony Pulis’s team, while you would have to go back to the Geoff Thomas / Andy Gray partnership for a pairing that had a similar impact, and that in an era when midfield play was certainly as athletic as today but the style of football was from a different era. It does, or course, help when other team components can build on this foundation, and while Thomas / Gray benefitted in the Wright & Bright team of the early 90s, Yohan & James have the help of talented wingers with a solid back four. It was interesting to note how Cabaye & McArthur would alternate which of them would push up to support the attack, allowing the other to gain a short respite; rarely did both of them move forward in open play, while they would both drop deep when Saints had the ball. Also notable was their work rate, which was expected in the 1990s but perhaps not from a player of Cabaye’s abilities back then.
Palace, with Zaha back from suspension to replace the injured Jedinak, lined up with the same starting XI that trounced Newcastle. It was in the 4-4-2 formation that Pardew has favoured recently, with Bolasie supporting Wickham, and with Zaha on the right and Puncheon on the left. Southampton lined up with three at the back, perhaps influenced by Sunderland’s success with the same tactics; it was nice to see Josè Fonte acknowledge the warm applause when his name was announced. Palace won the early midfield battles and established a large degree of early control, although actual chances were few, neither keeper having a real save to make. Bolasie often drifted wide on the left, which while making openings in good combinations with Puncheon & Souaré, sometimes left us light in the middle. Sometimes Wickham would do the same on the right side, leaving even less of a threat down the middle, but he was winning his early battles with Fonte, Soares and Van Dijk. The first real chances came in a sudden flow of three inside a minute or so, sparked when Bolasie, once again wide left, fired in what looked a wildly over hit cross only for the wind to catch it and curl it towards the top far corner. Gazzaniga (Nelson Muntz: “The second best Argentinean keeper I’ve seen”) showed great agility to claw the ball over from a corner. He also had to be sharp to save a Cabaye effort from the resulting corner, and a Wickham header from the one after that, before Zaha put a shot wide.
Southampton, not in the game at this stage, threatened for the first time from yet another Palace corner, a sudden break seeing Long waste a good opportunity by curling a shot just over the angle. He wasn’t popular, committing a ridiculous shove on Souaré, and later another foul leading with the arm on Dann. Mike Dean seemed as determined as against Arsenal to keep his cards hidden, Long being an obvious candidate, but McArthur also got away with three “professional” fouls breaking up moves without even the smallest admonishment. Southampton tweaked their tactics slightly, moving Van Dijk more towards midfield, which helped Davis & Romeu wrest control of the middle away from Palace for much of the rest of the half. Dann had to hack clear from near the line, while Hennessey showed impressive agility & a long reach to tip a Davis header just over the bar. So it was ironical that Palace scored at their opponents’ peak: a break down the right saw Zaha play a wonderful pass inside Yoshida for Bolasie to run onto; Yannick beat Fonte and his cross was turned in from close range by Cabaye. Southampton strove to regain equality before half time but their efforts, mostly from outside the box, were off-target.
The second half was less obviously divided between the teams, Southampton still just about having the edge in midfield, but failing to break through the hard-working, hard tackling combination of Cabaye and McArthur. An early excellent run by Bolasie carried him 50 yards but his near post cross couldn’t be turned in by Wickham. Puncheon would later dance inside the box from the other flank before finally succumbing to numbers, but these were rare breaks. Wickham was now getting less change out of Southampton’s back three, with Fonte impressive against his old team, and Palace were dropping deeper in front of the back four. Pardew made an important tactical switch, pulling Bolasie back onto the left of a 4-5-1, which allowed Palace to regain control of midfield. Koeman responded with a double substitution, abandoning the wing backs and moving to 4-4-2 with Pellè up front. That allowed Wickham a little more chance against only Fonte & Van Dijk, with Soares ending up at full back.
If anyone won that tactical battle it was Pardew as Palace once again had a spell where they made good chances, starting with some good play from Bolasie that, if anyone had been up in the box with him, should have seen someone prod the ball in from close range, but the ball had to be pulled back to Zaha whose shot under pressure was high. Mutch replaced Puncheon then Gazzaniga again denied Palace with another couple of fine saves: Wickham on the break saw his first Palace goal denied by a near post effort, then a far post volley by Bolasie drew an even better reaction save. Chamakh came on late on but it was Hennessey who saved two points in the third minute of stoppage time, as Long broke through but failed to beat the onrushing keeper. Out first Premier League win over Southampton, often a bogey team years before that, was hard fought but deserved.
Hennessey – 8 – An almost perfect game: controlled his box, dealing with crosses and coming out to claim through balls on a day wind made judgement crucial. His save of Davis’s header was one that a shorter keeper probably would not have reached (although one might allow for different reaction times, foot movement and agility...) while he finished the game a hero with a last second block.
Ward – 7 – Fine game at the back and supporting his winger, occasionally popping up on the edge of their box.
Souaré – 7 – Continues to impress as an attacking full back in his off-the-ball runs, speed and ability to deliver decent crosses on the run. His defensive skills are increasingly as impressive.
Delaney – 6 – Southampton rarely penetrated Palace’s box – I can only recall Long’s two chances, one in each half, the first of which found Damien playing offside, and then slow on the turn at then end. Nearly got on the end of an early Cabaye free kick.
Dann – 7 – Was beaten by Davis for the header in the first half but apart from that cannot recall any major errors.
Cabaye- 8 – There was the off loose ball, but some tigerish closing down and tackling topped off with some fine passing, often first time. Free kicks & corners were dangerous and popped up in the right place at the right time for the only goal. Only denied by Gazzaniga for an earlier score.
McArthur – 7 – Hard-working effort only slightly overshadowed by Cabaye. Their intuitive understanding of when to break and when to hold is wonderful to behold. Not afraid to commit fouls to break up an opposition move for the good of the team (thoroughly reprehensible when committed by an opponent, of course!).
Puncheon – 6 – Typical curate’s egg from Jason, with some lazy thinking or play occasionally giving the ball away, offset by some wonderful touches. Summed up his style when beat about 15 defenders inside their box but never looked likely to find a colleague. Not sure his best position is wide left.
Zaha – 7 – Thought first 20 minutes Wilf was mostly off the pace, slow to react or read the game, but in the first half still could have scored one, and showed great vision to set Bolasie free to set up the goal. Improved second half, although think he could have done better with chance set up by Bolasie.
Bolasie – 8 – Not sure if it is a master stroke to play Yannick down the middle, as he often pulls his marker out of position wide, but then leaves the side light in numbers to take advantage. Still, in either striker or winger role, he created one goal, set up Wickham & Zaha for good second half chances, and only denied a goal himself by a fine save.
Wickham – 7 – Started and finished well, winning balls and could have had scored one ion the first half & two in the second. In the middle period struggled especially against Fonte’s experience but kept going.
Mutch – 5 – First impressions are important, so when brought on to supply fresh legs in midfield Jordon’s decision to not close down an opponent and allow him to push 20 yards forward wasn’t a good move. Made a couple of good touches late on.
Chamakh – n/a – Very late sub for Wickham