Van’s the man for Palace
EAGLES WIN BUT ROY WANTS MORE GOALS
A DELICIOUS free-kick whipped home by Patrick van Aanholt fired Crystal Palace to their first win of 2020.
The Eagles hadn’t tasted victory since beating West Ham here at Selhurst Park on Boxing Day.
And four points from their last seven games meant they were in danger of being sucked back in to the relegation dogfight.
But Van Aanholt’s 30yard cracker, his third goal of the season, gave them a deserved lead moments before half-time.
And Steve Bruce’s visitors, reduced to 10 men in stoppage time when Valentino Lazaro was sent off for a professional foul on the largely anonymous Wilfried Zaha, never looked like fighting back.
The win meant Palace swapped places with Newcastle, who’d started the day a position ahead in 13th.
And boss Roy Hodgson ( far right) said: “I was pleased for Patrick. We rate him highly and we know what level of technical ability he has.
“I wouldn’t have minded one or two more goals. We did enough to score more than one and that would have relieved the anxiety I always feel when we’re winning 1-0.
“Throughout the 90 minutes it was a good performance. I’m just a bit, not disappointed, but it would have been more comfortable if we’d scored that second goal.”
Hodgson’s mood was at odds with Bruce, the Toon boss deeply unhappy with the way his side performed and understandably so.
He said: “We’re disappointed. Our big Achilles heel is blatantly obvious, we gave the ball away in big areas so cheaply, especially in the last third, and we didn’t ask their defenders to defend properly and make a save. So, maybe it’s
time for a change, maybe it’s time for trying something different.
“Our final ball, our final cross in the final third has been lacking.
“That’s what being the manager of Newcastle is, you have to accept when you get beaten and we didn’t deserve to win the game. If you don’t deserve to win the game you have
to accept the consequences.” Striker Joelinton is having a tough time but his boss refused to single him out.
He added: “We don’t cross it enough and we don’t do the basics to give him a chance. We haven’t done enough at the top end of the pitch.
“We have to be more of a goal threat to win a match in the Premier League. We didn’t do enough with the lion’s share of possession.”
Both goalkeepers were tested in an entertaining 20-odd minutes at the start with Martin Dubravka, in particular, pulling off fine saves to deny headers from Gary Cahill and Scott Dann.
Joelinton’s rising drive needed a good stop from Vince Guaita at the other end, while Jordan Ayew spun cleverly between Danny Rose and Nabil Bentaleb to open up a decent chance, but his shot lacked the conviction of the piece of skill before it.
Quite how Christian Benteke missed from inside the six-yard box when
Van Aanholt picked him out, only he will know.
He was in space with only Dubravka to beat but somehow headed wide.
Despite early promise, the game dropped off and was meandering to halftime when Palace were given a free-kick. James Mcarthur and Van Aanholt
stood over it, and the Dutchman wrapped his left boot around a sumptuous effort that gave Dubravka no chance.
Palace began the second half on the front foot and the impressive Ayew hit the outside of a post early on. Ayew then saw another effort denied by a good save from Dubravka — he must have been sick of the sight of the stopper.
There was plenty of hustle and bustle about Toon but no end product, with a disappointing afternoon compounded when Lazaro was sent off for manhandling Zaha.