Zaha still scoring… but once again he’s stuck on the shelf

THE window has closed and Wilfried Zaha has his face pressed hard against the glass once more. Still scoring, still on the shelf and still of the belief that the natural ceilings for his talent and his club are located at different heights. Not that he made such a clear blue case here. It wasn’t that sort of day or that sort of performance, given so much of it was spent in blind alleys or shaking his head, the tell of a player who isn’t quite where he wants to be. But he also scored, which takes him to four for the season and equal with his tally for the entire 2019-20 campaign. While that can be taken as an indictment of how his standards fell last time round, it is indisputable that even on his gentler days his output is far more in keeping now with his considerable ability. In terms of his importance to Crystal Palace, his first-half penalty was their only ray of light in this scrappy meeting of A23 rivals. Palace manager Roy Hodgson (below) pointed to the defensive effort that kept Brighton out until their stoppage-time equaliser through Alexis Mac Allister, but that felt a rather kind interpretation of a wider performance that allowed Brighton to dominate massive chunks of the game. For that, consider a key set of statistics. Against a team who have haemorrhaged goals lately, Palace managed a single shot on target and none that went high or wide, near or far. Just the one. In return, they gave up 66 per cent of possession and faced 19 shots, albeit only three on target. True, they defended well against that tide — but only because they had to. On balance, Graham Potter and Brighton had more cause to feel aggrieved, not least because of the decision to award Palace a penalty against Tariq Lamptey for softly placing a hand on Michy Batshuayi’s shoulder in defence of a cross. The VAR supported Stuart Attwell’s call but it was a moment to question an official’s interpretation of a rule that is rarely enforced. Potter said: ‘I have no expectations of the referees when it comes to VAR. That is probably the best thing, then you are not surprised or disappointed. ‘I don’t understand a lot at the moment but again that is not my remit, necessarily, to understand. ‘What I saw with the penalty was it was a bit soft. There is so much going on that in the end you can drive yourself insane trying to work it out.’ Never a truer word. In any case, both sides ended runs of two straight defeats, even if each had reason to think they might have had more. For Hodgson, the result was secured after losing Jordan Ayew from his side because of a positive Covid test. Hodgson said: ‘He’s been away with Ghana, which we weren’t exactly delighted to accept that he had to do. Like several other Ghanaian players, I believe when they have gone back to their clubs they have tested positive.’ Had Palace spent more of this game in possession, then Ayew’s absence might have been more pronounced. Instead, they were largely stifled from the start, eaten whole by a Brighton defence who had coughed up seven in their past two games. Potter’s tweak, or leap of faith if you prefer, was to shift Ben White out of his back three and into midfield, with the effect being a more stable unit based on last season’s defensive blueprint. White also did well in unfamiliar terrain. On those foundations, Brighton were the stronger side, but after masses of pressure, they finally got their goal when Joel Ward lost possession to Maupay just as the game entered stoppage time. Maupay nudged right to Mac Allister and his strike beat Vicente Guaita before Lewis Dunk was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Gary Cahill. CRYSTAL PALACE (4-4-2): Guaita 6.5; Ward 6, Kouyate 7, Cahill 6.5, Mitchell 6; Townsend 6, Riedewald 6.5, McArthur 6, Schlupp 7 (Benteke 88min); Batshuayi 6.5 (Milivojevic 83), Zaha 7. Subs not used: Hennessey, Van Aanholt, Sakho, Clyne, Eze. Booked: Mitchell, Guaita, McArthur. Scorer: Zaha 19 pen Manager: Roy Hodgson 6.5. BRIGHTON (3-4-2-1): Ryan 6; Webster 6, Dunk 5.5, Burn 6.5 (Gross 82); Lamptey 5.5, WHITE 7.5, Bissouma 6.5, March 6; Trossard 6 (Connolly 78), Lallana 7 (Mac Allister 78); Maupay 5.5. Subs not used: Steele, Bernardo, Veltman, Alzate. Booked: Ryan, Bissouma. Sent off: Dunk. Scorer: Mac Allister 90 Manager: Graham Potter 6.5. Referee: Stuart Attwell 5.5.