A BLANK SLATE
Roy’s back on board in predictable stalemate
IT WAS as if Roy Hodgson had requested a slow burner to mark his return from recent illness after last week’s rollercoaster finish at Aston Villa.
Crystal Palace and Fulham could have played until today and they still probably wouldn’t have scored.
But, as the saying goes, the Premier League table never lies and these two sides are already sitting pretty on eight points after the opening six matches.
Sam Johnstone was the busier of the two goalkeepers but Fulham’s lack of cutting edge in the final third proved to be their downfall on a predictable afternoon.
The Cottagers started the brighter of the two sides as Andreas Pereira and Willian stung the palms of Johnstone inside the opening 10 minutes.
Tempers then began to flare following a cluster of controversial decisions from card-happy referee Paul Tierney, who quickly became his own worst enemy. First he booked Joao Palhinha for bringing down Jeffrey Schlupp seconds after the ball had struck the man in the middle – only for Tierney to wave play on.
Yellow cards for Tim Ream, Jordan Ayew and Tyrick Mitchell quickly followed before Bobby Decordova-reid was lucky to escape caution for a challenge that ignited a touchline row between the two benches.
Raul Jimenez then went close in the 35th minute when he controlled a lofted through-ball before forcing another smart stop from Johnstone at the near post.
Eberechi Eze went within a whisker of breaking the deadlock when he danced inside Harrison Reid before firing inches wide of the mark.
The 25-year-old’s footballing IQ, agility, immaculate control and dribbling was a sight to behold and he is going the right way about cementing his place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2024.
Eze, making his 100th appearance for Palace, was once again at the heart of the action 10 minutes into the second half when he went down under the challenge of Fulham midfielder Reid – but Tierney and the VAR officials were not interested.
Fulham’s best chance was when Decordova-reid burst through the centre of the pitch before finding Jimenez but his low cutback flashed across the face of goal – much to the dismay of the furious Pereira.
Fulham then went in search of a winner following three quick-fire attacking changes from Marco Silva but neither side deserved to win. CRYSTAL PALACE: Johnstone 7; Ward 6, Andersen 7, Guehi 7, Mitchell 6; Doucoure 6, Hughes 7, Schlupp 6 (Mateta (70) 6); Ayew 6, Eze 8, Edouard 7 (Rak-sakyi (90) 6) FULHAM: Leno 7; Castagne 6, Diop 7, Ream 6, Robinson 7; Palhinha 7, Reed 6; Willian 6, Pereira 6 (Iwobi (75) 6), Decordova-reid 6 (Wilson (79) 7); Jimenez 6 (Vinicius (79) 5) STAR MAN: Eberechi Eze – Spellbinding. Everything that was good about Crystal Palace came through him. REF: Paul Tierney 4