EAGLES ROCK... ...FOXES SHOCK!
Palace out of bottom three and dump Leicester in it
CRYSTAL PALACE are out of the bottom three, but that spells trouble for Leicester.
Palace’s nerve-racking win over Middlesbrough sent the Premier League champions – who play Liverpool tomorrow – sliding into the relegation zone.
Patrick van Aanholt scored the winner at Selhurst Park, and Eagles boss Sam Allardyce said: “The place was rocking. It’s a confidence booster.”
Three weeks after the debacle of a four-goal home defeat by Sunderland, there couldn’t have been a bigger contrast.
Patrick van Aanholt’s firsthalf shot that seemed to take an age to curl into the bottom corner had turned protests into celebrations.
And the passion of a Selhurst Park crowd after eight defeats in nine Premier League games looked like an
We gave the fans something to cheer at last SAM ALLARDYCE
asset rather than a liability once more.
“Winning is good for confidence for everybody, and when confidence improves then players get better,” said Allardyce.
“The place was rocking today and I really appreciated that, and we gave them something to cheer with the way that we played in the first half when we scored an exceptional goal.
“The players have had a lot of pressure and the only way to lift that is to start winning football matches.”
Palace’s problems all season have been in defence, even when Alan Pardew was in charge, and Allardyce had done something about that by giving Mamadou Sakho a debut. Big Sam used James Tomkins alongside him in a new central pairing and Palace’s defence looked far more solid as a result.
They were seriously tested twice, by a decent Gaston Ramirez free-kick and a volley by Cristhian Stuani which was hit straight at keeper Wayne Hennessey.
Sakho’s aggression set the tone for a far more confident performance, and Palace could have gone in front early when Christian Benteke had good chances. When Van Aanholt got the vital goal after 34 minutes it was well deserved. Many questioned Big Sam spending £14million on the Dutch defender from Sunderland, but here was evidence to justify that fee.
He started a move from left-back, and kept going forward. When Daniel Ayala’s weak headed clearance fell to him he had the momentum to take the chance, steering a first-time shot beyond the reach of Victor Valdes.
Boro improved after the break but there’s a reason why Aitor Karanka’s team have scored only three goals in their last nine league games.
They pass the ball neatly at times, but don’t send enough bodies forward or take enough risks. For all they huffed and puffed there was only that one real threat on Hennessey’s goal.
And only a bizarre decision by ref Robert Madley stopped Palace from making the game safe. He booked James Mcarthur for diving instead of giving a penalty when he was clearly fouled by Stewart Downing.
“I don’t know why we didn’t go to the pitch in the first half in the way we did in the second,” said Karanka, who knows his team might be in the FA Cup quarterfinals but are heading towards the drop zone.
“I thought my players realised how important this game was.
“I don’t want to say they didn’t have good attitude, but you were in the stands and you could see that the second half was completely different to the first one.”