The late, late show
Palace’s double strike snatches victory and lifts them out of relegation zone
If Saturday’s agonising draw with Bournemouth had left Crystal Palace feeling like two points had slipped through their fingers, then here were three that had been conjured out of nothing.
Once more there was late drama at Selhurst Park, and once more a Palace game swung on its head in the final moments. But there was to be no missed penalty this time, no “pantomime villain” in red and blue. Instead, there were two late goals and two Palace heroes on a night that was forgettable and indeed regrettable for so long, but somehow ended as an occasion to savour. This was a pure steal, a robbing of a Watford side who were made to pay for their profligacy after Daryl Janmaat had given them the lead with an early blast from the south London cold, and for Tom Cleverley’s foolish red card with just three minutes remaining.
Bakary Sako bundled in the ugliest of equalisers two minutes after Cleverley had been dismissed, setting the stage for James Mcarthur to slam home a stoppage-time winner. Two substitutes, delivering two defining moments that lift Palace out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.
Roy Hodgson, the manager, has said keeping the club in the division would be the greatest escape of his career. If he succeeds, it will be nights like this that make the difference.
“I can’t explain it,” he said through his smile. “It was not one of our better performances in terms of the quality of our play, but we have played well home and away and not always claimed the three points. I would rather have three points than good performances which don’t give us the points.”
It is hard to imagine a bigger boost than a victory in these circumstances, just three days after the fallout that saw striker Christian Benteke described as both a “disgrace” by pundits and a “pantomime villain” by his manager for demanding and missing a last-minute penalty against Bournemouth.
A delirious Hodgson even praised the striker for a “quite incredible” piece of chasing that led to Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes booting the ball out of play at the end. Such was the euphoria at the final whistle that this piece of praise only sounded faintly ridiculous.
Naturally, the Palace ecstasy was matched by Watford despair. “We should have won,” said coach Marco Silva. “We were leading 1-0 but we must score more. The red card changed it. It gave them belief.”
It is belief that will now be pumping through the Palace veins, with the lingering memory of this turnaround likely to last long into the season. “Sadness to euphoria,” Hodgson said, as it dawned that Palace are now unbeaten in six games.
“We didn’t feel this was a hopeless case,” he said. “From the moment I started working with the players, I found a group who were willing to buy into the type of work ethic and philosophy of myself and my coaching staff.”
The concept of work ethic felt distant in the third minute, though, when Janmaat ambled into the box unmarked and headed Richarlison’s cross past Julian Speroni and into the roof of the net. Richarlison, as dangerous as ever, nearly made it two soon after but curled wide. At the other end, Palace were restricted to two wayward Andros Townsend strikes from range, the second of which prompted a mass throwing of arms into the air, as if the Palace midfield was engaged in a meticulously choreographed dance of frustration.
There would have been plenty more angry gesticulating shortly afterwards had Troy Deeney not slid a shot wide when just yards out from goal. It looked a horrendous miss but, on closer viewing, there appeared to be a crucial touch from Palace defender Scott Dann.
As the second half wore on, Palace appeared further from scoring than at any time in the first period. Richarlison wasted a chance to end the contest, prompting Hodgson to send Sako and Mcarthur into the mix. Not that it made much difference. Palace continued to splutter and stutter on a night filled with airkicks and mis-hits, scuffs and hoofs.
But Cleverley twice lunged into brainless challenges, was twice shown yellow, and suddenly a glimmer of hope had appeared.
Sako barrelled his way through a Watford defence that had been resolute up to this point, with the ball cannoning in off a knee after his initial effort was saved by Gomes, who had pushed out Wilfried Zaha’s drive. A draw felt good, considering the circumstances. An unlikely win felt even better. Zaha charged down the left and found Mcarthur, who sealed the victory.
was all the more perplexing for the Stoke supporters, who conveyed their anger by chanting: “You don’t know what you’re doing” at their embattled manager, Mark Hughes.
When Barnes blasted beyond Butland late on to condemn them to a fourth defeat in five matches, the dissenting voices were handed further ammunition even if the visitors merited at least a point.
“I felt we more than matched them for long periods,” Hughes said. “It’s disappointing because obviously we wanted some reward for that performance and it was clearly important for us after the weekend when we did not get anywhere near what we produced tonight.”