Palace came into the game off the back of two consecutive wins and cleans sheets but in a boring, ugly affair it took an own goal by Troy Deeney to clinch the points for Sam Allardyce’s men as their brilliant form continued at the expense of Watford.
The Watford captain, Troy Deeney had scored in his previous three games against the Eagles but on this occasion, he scored in the opposite end after a brilliant delivery from Yohan Cabaye’s free-kick on 69 minutes caused him to head into his own net.
In a game as boring as this one neither side were troubled but it saw Palace that claimed the clean sheet and the important win to make it three consecutive league clean sheets for the first time since April 2014 and moved Allardyce’s team further away from the drop zone.
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Here are my player ratings from the game:
Alfonso Greenbook is the host of the e-Crystal Palace podcast, a weekly podcast reviewing Palace games on YouTube, iTunes and acast.
Wayne Hennessey - 7
Kept another clean sheet and looked confident throughout. Made a great save in the second half but did give the fans a heart-in-mouth moment when he flapped at a long ball.
Jeffrey Schlupp - 7
Came in for the injured Van Aanholt and formed a good partnership with Zaha down the left. Provided defensive cover and attacking threat.
Mamadou Sakho - 7
Palace have kept another clean sheet with him in the team. He was defensively solid but did mess up a few of his clearances.
James Tomkins - 8
His job was to stop Troy Deeney and he did that excellently. Seems to have formed a very good partnership with Sakho at the back.
Joel Ward - 8
His best performance of the season! It was a very good performance from the right-back, who had to deal with the threat of M’Baye Niang, which he did well.
Luka Milivojevic - 7
Playing in a deep midfield role, he gave reassurance and protection to the back four. Dealt with the threat of Etienne Capoue well.
Yohan Cabaye - 8
A MOTM performance from the French men. Playing in a more advance role he showed energy and put in the free-kick which led to the own goal.
Jason Puncheon - 7
Another good performance from the captain, who formed a good partnership with Yohan Cabaye in the attacking midfield role.
Wilfried Zaha - 8 (MOTM)
What’s new… another MOTM performance. Zaha was a constant threat to the Watford full-backs despite being continuously fouled.
Christian Benteke - 6
Despite the lack of service to him, Benteke’s work rate was good. Allardyce said post game that he is low on confidence but wants to score goals.
Andros Townsend - 7
Was a threat to Watford with his crosses but didn’t have as much impact as Zaha on the other flank.