After the joy of the win against Liverpool, a trip to Wales to play a team we never seem to beat, Gary Monk’s Swansea City. Neil Warnock name a side only differing from the one that began the Liverpool game through the necessity of naming Brede Hangeland as the replacement for the injured Damien Delaney. Hangeland has stepped in during the Liverpool game and had done an excellent job, so it felt like an unchanged side.
Once the sides lined up, it was clear there had been another change – Joel Ward and Martin Kelly had changed places at the back so that Ward could face the threat of the lightening quick Jefferson Montero. Kelly was facing up to Former Eagle Wayne Routledge on the other wing after his recovery from injury for the Swans.
In the opening exchanges it was clear quite why Warnock had been worried about Montero as he repeatedly beat Joel Ward, who simply stood off the talented Ecuadorian. Over on the other wing, Kelly was having a similarly torrid time against Routledge. In the middle the movement of Bony and previous Palace target Gylfi Sigurdsson was causing all sorts of problems. Chamakh and Gayle were unable to hold the ball when they did get near it and the attacking nature of the Swansea fullbacks meant Bolasie and Puncheon were occupied at the back and not an outlet going forward.
The first major talking point came when a foul was given against Marouane Chamakh and he reacted strongly by throwing the ball to the ground and arguing with the referee – earning yellow card. Captain Mile Jedinak both having to have words with the Moroccan international to calm him down. Many felt the combination of the offence and the arguing could have earned him a red card – and especially later in the second half when he handballed on the edge of the penalty area. The fact he turned his back in that incident probably saving him.
The early Swansea dominance was so complete that you knew a goal was coming – and Wilfried Bony duly obliged on the 15 minute mark, receiving a pass from Sigurdsson and rolling his defender before drilling a shot into the bottom corner past the despairing dive of Julian Speroni. It was a classy finish from the prolific striker and no more than the Swans deserved.
The game seemed to change around an injury to Dwight Gayle. He had been clattered early on and in the 18th minute it was clear he could not continue. Neil Warnock elected to push Chamakh further up the pitch and bring on James McArthur in the midfield. The effect of doing this was almost instantaneous. McArthur plugged the gaps Swansea had been exploiting and Chamakh was much more effective a target when Palace cleared their lines. More importantly the extra midfield body freed up Bolasie, who started to see a lot more of the ball and began pushing Rangel back towards his own goal.
Swansea’s rhythm was disrupted and Palace took full advantage in the 25th minute. Bolasie set off on another run and won a corner from a Swansea challenge as he attempted a cross. The first corner was cleared for another and when Swansea failed to clear, Marouane Chamakh looked to move onto a loose ball. Jonjo Shelvey, who later in the half missed two good chances, challenged rashly from behind and a penalty was awarded.
Eagles skipper Mile Jedinak stepped up to smash the ball home, in spite of Fabianski getting a strong hand to the ball. From the moment the ball hit the net, Palace changed into a very different side – a spell of possession and pressure followed for a good 10 minutes, which included a glorious chance for Marouane Chamakh from a cross by Martin Kelly. Kelly received the ball out wide from Bolasie and swung a left-footed cross into the area. Ashley Williams missed the ball and it fell to a grateful Chamakh, who turned and shot immediately, only to find Fabianski in the Swansea goal had rushed out to smother the shot.
From looking like a team who would be blown away by talented opposition, Palace were suddenly a team in the ascendancy and who could consider themselves unlucky to not be ahead in the game.
As the half drew to a close, Swansea recovered considerably and carved out two chances of their own. Shelvey first connected with a corner in the near post area, side-footing wide and moments later the ex-Charlton man hauled Joel Ward to floor in build-up play and used the extra space to arrive late in the box, only to miss an easy chance once more. Wayne Routledge had the final chance of the half, but Speroni saved well low-down at his near post after closing the angle.
1-1 at Half time was a relief after the opening spell, but it had been very pleasing to see how much Palace had come into the game. What was clear for the masses watching was that there was little point in trying to out-football Swansea.
The second half began with a fairly uneventful spell of play. It was clear that Palace were slowing the game down to avoid the frantic pressure of the early part of the first half. The full backs were much more dominant than in the first half, with Kelly beginning to impress at left-back. The first chance of the half saw Swansea sit off Jedinak, who drove into the open space and unleashed a shot from range which flew into the grateful arms of Fabianski.
Following that, Swansea began to turn the screw a little and built from a strong spell of possession, forcing Palace a little deeper than was totally comfortable. Some good work from Shelvey down Palace’s right saw a ball in to Bony. His poor touch let Palace clear, but only as far as Sigurdsson. The Icelandic international shot with a dipping half-volley, but Julian Speroni pulled off an excellent stop to keep the scores level.
Moudou Barrow replaced Routledge on 65 minutes, with Palace bringing on Campbell for Chamakh moments later. Barrow caused problems with his pace from the start of his involvement – but nothing clear cut. A clearly frustrated Gary Monk made another swap, taking off Bony and replacing him with former Palace target Bafetembi Gomis. Gomis was full of running and offered a more direct option for Swansea who were seeking a plan B. They nearly got their reward when Rangel joined a break and played in Sigurdsson on the edge of the area. He drove his shot fractionally wide of Speroni’s goal as Palace got away with some hesitant defending.
There was a further let-off when from a Palace corner, Swansea looked to break, Barrow used his lightening pace to break and was unceremoniously hacked down by James McArthur. The Swans fans screamed for a red, but the offence occurred too far from the goal for the referee to be certain of a goalscoring chance so a yellow was issued.
Palace’s last throw of the dice, on 81 minutes, was to bring on Wilfried Zaha for Jason Puncheon. Puncheon had been effective in his defensive work but the flow of the game had made it hard for him to have an effect going forward, with there often being two players on him out wide (something Neil Warnock was at pains to point out after the game). This change saw no immediate impact as the 90th minute arrived without another serious chance. However in the 92nd minute Martin Kelly drove forward and unleashed a shot which Fabianski held. A minute later Yannick Bolasie also had a chance and shot wide and high. Finally the last action of the game saw Wilfried Zaha break into the area and go down under a challenge. There weren’t big appeals but it did look like the winger was clipped.
The full time whistle sounded and the Palace players were greeted with a great reception from the attending supporters for turning around a game that looked well beyond them in the opening exchanges.
