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Following a tough start of the season, Crystal Palace bounced back from a 5-1 defeat at Chelsea to win against newly promoted Bournemouth. The Sky cameras were there to capture Jason Puncheon’s return from injury as he came off the bench to secure a 2-1 victory with an audacious chip.
A feisty affair at the Liberty Stadium was to follow. Swansea took an early lead before Ki Sung-Yeung received a second booking after just 38 minutes to earn himself an early bath.
The tackles were flying in and although Palace fought back for the third time this season through Wilfried Zaha and on-loan signing Lucas Piazon, they finished the game with just 9 men as Ward, Williams, McArthur and Piazon all went off injured. Swansea launched an onslaught on the Palace goal during the last 10 minutes but Speroni, back in for Hennessey following his poor showing against Chelsea, made some fantastic saves to clinch the victory.
A cup-tie against Port Vale offered the chance for the fringe players to impress Pardew and Campbell, Souaré, Puncheon and Ledley all staked their claims by scoring in the 4-0 win.
All the injuries sustained against Bournemouth meant that the Eagles still had to field a weakened team against Watford. Ledley, Guedioura and Charlie Austin all started for the first time in the league this season and flourished in the 4-2 win. Guedioura scored against his old side whilst the former non-league hitman grabbed a brace on his full debut for the club.
October
As we headed into the first international break of the season, fourth spot and three wins in three meant that Alan Pardew was awarded the Manager of the Month award for Septemeber. Although it’s always great to receive such an accolade, the fans were hoping that this wouldn’t be the start of a barrage of poor performances thanks to the dreaded curse that this prize often brings with it.
Positive draws at St Mary’s and at home against Manchester United led to a bitter return to St James Park for Pardew as his side lost 2-0. The curse looked to be settling in as the Eagles were now without a win in three ahead of their match against Stoke in the League Cup. Despite the quarterfinals being in sight. Pardew persevered with the fringe players, and the outsiders certainly didn’t let him down as Papé Souaré scored the winner, early into extra time to send Palace into the quarter finals against Man City.
November
Charlie Austin, cup-tied and therefore unable to play in the League Cup, was in brilliant form in November, scoring 6 goals in 6 games. Palace enjoyed mixed fortunes, with wins against West Brom, Norwich and West Ham, draws against Leicester and Stoke, and losses against Liverpool and Arsenal, leaving the club in 7th place at the end of November.
Quarter Final against Manchester City
A very mixed team in terms of ability lined up against Manchester City on a bitter Tuesday night in December. Speroni, Dann, Zaha, Ledley, Piazon and Lee Chung-Yong all kept their places, joined by Zeki Fryers, debutant Keshi Anderson and the long-forgotten Jack Hunt.
And following an early goal from City, it was the former Barton-Rovers striker who equalised on his debut with a close ranged header.
Thierry Ambrose put the league leaders in front for a second time and again Palace fought back as Lee Chung-Yong curled a stunning late freekick round Willy Caballero to take the game into extra time.
The South Korean had been terrorising the Manchester City defence and it was his terrific through ball that found Wilfried Zaha free on the edge of the six yard box. The England international cut in and fired a wild shot into the far corner to send Palace into the Semi Finals of the Capital One Cup.
December
The Cup hangover didn’t quite set in just yet as Palace earned a well-deserved point in a tough match against Aston Villa before beating Sunderland on Boxing Day at the Stadium of Light through goals from Ledley and Zaha, on the day that Mandela Egbo made his first Crystal Palace debut. The young right back had a tough time against Nicolaj Thomsen but did enough to ensure another Palace victory.
Unfortunately, 2015 ended in defeat for Palace as Manchester City came back for revenge, dominating proceedings and leaving South London with all three points thanks to two goals from Yaya Touré and Mario Gomez.
Despite the win, it was City’s rivals, Man Utd, who were topping the league with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all close behind. At the opposite end, Sunderland found themselves at the foot of the table with Bournemouth and West Brom occupying the other two relegation spots.
Despite qualifying for Europe last season, Southampton found themselves in 17th and Koeman became the first managerial casualty of the Premiership. The vacant managerial spot at St Mary’s was taken by his fellow countryman, Ronald De Boer, and former Palace Boss, Ian Holloway, returned to management replacing Steve McLaren as the fourth Newcastle manager in a year.
Now Palace fans were gearing up for an exciting January, with the prospect of some new signings and two League Cup Semi-Final fixtures against Swansea to come.
