Struber is delighted with ’Ell of a show from super Simoes
ROY HODGSON was not even sure he would be allowed in the stadium for Project Restart over coronavirus fears.
But nothing right now can stop the Crystal Palace boss, who turns 73 in August and was not even wearing a face mask as he masterminded yet another win.
First-half strikes from Luka Milivojevic and Jordan Ayew were enough to see off sorry Bournemouth, who missed a chance to climb out of the bottom three.
And it’s 42 points now for Palace, who climb to ninth, above Arsenal and level on points with Tottenham.
They haven’t finished higher than 10th since 1991 and considering their injury problems and lack of spending, Hodgson deserves a medal.
As for Bournemouth, who lost Josh King to injury, things look bleak. Eleven points from 19 games is relegation form and they showed little belief in a Great Escape here.
West Ham’s defeat to Wolves presented Bournemouth with a golden opportunity not just to climb out of the bottom three but to put some daylight between them.
But their form before the lockdown break had been awful, so Cherries boss Eddie Howe didn’t think twice about throwing forgotten man David Brooks back in. It was the young Wales star’s first appearance since April 2019 after injury – but his early influence came at the wrong end.
Brooks hacked down Wilfried Zaha on the edge of the box and that allowed Milivojevic to whip in a 25-yard free-kick over the wall and into the top corner.
Bournemouth have kept a league-low four clean sheets and again their defending let them down, with keeper Aaron Ramsdale not covering himself in glory either.
It got worse for them when Ayew struck a second completely unmarked inside the six-yard box after Zaha fed Patrick van Aanholt on the overlap.
It was the first time Palace had scored more than once in the first half of a league game since the final day in 2019, when they scored three – against the Cherries.
But it was no more than they deserved. Hodgson’s boys had all but clinched their survival with a run of three wins on the trot before football stopped.
And they picked up where they had left off in this first half, dominating the home side all over the pitch. There were tense moments after the break when Gary Cahill steamed into Josh King and caught him right on the ankle.
Cahill won the ball but King was unable to continue – and VAR official Derek Eaton took a good long look before confirming referee Stuart Attwell’s decision not to show red.
Nathan Ake then had his head in his hands after planting a point-blank header from a corner straight into the waiting arms of Vicente Guaita.
Ake needed treatment too after catching Cahill on the back of the head with his follow through, but was able to continue.
With King off and Brooks forced to follow him after a severe case of cramp, the Cherries – who have been injury-hit all season – couldn’t afford to lose anyone else.
For all the danger they were in, Bournemouth lacked urgency and did not look like mounting a late fightback with most of their chances coming from set plays.
Palace were more than comfortable soaking up the pressure and hitting back on the counter and you could feel the home side’s frustration growing.
And it could have been three if Cahill hadn’t skied a volley on the turn from a dangerous position after Christian Benteke had beaten Ake in the air from a free-kick.
ELLIOT SIMOES struck the only goal of the game early on to raise Barnsley’s hopes of escaping relegation.
The South Yorkshire club had slumped to bottom spot in the Championship before games were suspended in March.
But they showed plenty of fight as they got the better of the first half before withstanding a QPR onslaught in the second to move above Luton Town at the foot of the table.
The defeat set back the slight hopes that QPR had of reaching the play-offs.
While the home side created a series of chances in the second half, even the sounds of the home support piped into the empty stadium could not lift them to find the back of the net.
A lovely pass from Ben Williams set up the goal for Simoes after seven minutes.
Bright Osayi-Samuel lost out in midfield to Romal Palmer, before Williams played in Simoes between QPR’s centre-backs to slot the ball past Liam Kelly.
Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber was not shocked to see the Portuguese forward take his chance.
He said: “It was not a major surprise that Elliot gave a big performance. He is a talent and this is what we want from him.
“The gap is now four points and we must work step by step, from game to game – we know that every point is important.”
The visitors continued to create the better chances as QPR struggled to string passes together, with Jacob Brown slicing a shot wide and Cauley Woodrow having an effort blocked. Just before the interval, QPR defender Conor Masterson headed the ball on to his own crossbar after a Barnsley free-kick was looped into the area.
The R’s already thin squad had been stripped of some of its experience in the run-up to the resumption as Marc Pugh and Grant Hall left the club but the half-time introduction of young winger Olamide Shodipo finally saw the home side exert some pressure.
Ilias Chair saw his cross-shot cleared off the line, while Ebere Eze saw his shot – after being put clear by Jordan Hugill – go just over.
Yoann Barbet then went close as his free-kick just missed the top corner.
But a goal would not come and late on, Hugill – who had struggled to get free of the Barnsley defence all afternoon – raced through on goal after an Eze pass but failed in his attempt to beat Jack Walton.
The slow start left QPR boss Mark Warburton feeling frustrated.
He said: “We knew what we were facing.
“They have got a real energy. I thought we were really poor for the first 45 minutes.
“As a team we let ourselves down today.”