Palace broke their Shrewsbury hoodoo with what on the surface looked like an emphatic 4-1 win over the League 1 side. The result however belied some of the match's challenges, as Mark Gardiner explains in his match report.
A much-changed Palace took their time to defeat a limited but hard-working Shrewsbury side last night. There were not many performances that will encourage Pardew to make multiple changes at Stamford Bridge, and although the night’s entertainment needed an early goal for the League One team, for long periods Palace made hard work in creating chances, and were dragged into extra time. At least a decent crowd of over 10,000 saw plenty of goals in the end, and the level of support while Palace were behind & then when the tie was undecided was superb. Shrewsbury turned up in Argentina’s home kit and played more like the 1974 ultra-defensive version; sadly no Messi.
It is a little difficult to reconcile the declared aim of a cup run with the “second XI” selected by Pardew last night, even if it was packed with experience and international caps, and was hardly a Football Combination outfit. Only Ward & Zaha from Saturday’s starting XI were selected from the start, and Wilf played all 120 minutes – he must really have upset someone! Hennessey was in goal; Ward started at right back with Kelly at left back, although they swapped after about 30 minutes; Hangeland & Mariappa were central defence; the old boiler-house of Jedinak & Ledley played as holding midfielders; Zaha on the right & Lee on the left flanked Bamford in the hole, with Gayle the sole striker.
As a scratch side Palace were still finding their feet when the ball was conceded in the middle of our half, and Tootle escaped Ledley’s attentions to fire the ball past Hennessey. We old timers did all warm you of the Shrewsbury Hoodoo!!!! After that unsurprisingly the Shrews fell back and defended in depth, often with 9 men behind the ball. There were some good showings from the visitors: Grandison, built like a blockhouse at centre back, had a habit of making barnstorming runs through the middle; Junior Brown in left midfield used his pace to help close down Ward & Zaha; while Ryan Woods was a spiky defensive midfielder. Yet they did not force Hennessey into another save for the rest of the tie ad their main weapon was the siege-gun kicking of keeper Leutwiler, who took a leaf from Speroni’s book of taklng aeons over goal kicks.
Palace dominated possession but did little with it, and didn’t have a shot at goal for well over half-an-hour. Bamford & Gayle couldn’t strike up an understanding, and there was too much passing on the edge of the box, culminating in the crowd’s latent frustration first showing itself when Lee passed up two chances to shoot in trying to improve his position, and the ball was shuttled across the face of the area with each player unable to find space for an effort on goal. Zaha was working hard on the right but unable to find a telling cross and the closest we came to an equaliser was an early deep cross that saw Wilf fail to connect with a flying header. One major issue was that Jedi & Ledley were sitting far too deep – we didn’t need two holding midfielders against Shrewsbury, and we probably didn’t need one when they were sitting so deep, yet Jedi was often level with our central defenders in our half while Ledley looked well off the pace. It was notable that our pressure increased when Jedinak did step forward late on in the first half, and a one-two between Zaha & Bamford saw Wilf finally get goal-side of his man, and was unsurprisingly bundled over. Gayle coolly finished the spot kick – the goal-bound effort our first of the match – and Palace could have seized the lead in the few minutes remaining before the interval, Zaha’s fierce drive forcing a save from Leutwiler (although he was flagged offside), and then Bamford finding himself clear on the penalty spot but being too slow to turn and take advantage.
Half time saw Ward replaced by Souaré – a planned substitution we thought with Chelsea on the horizon – and the match continued much as it had in the first half. Shrewsbury rarely caused any problems to Hangeland & Mariappa, and none at all to Hennessey, but again Palace struggled to make superiority tell, and we didn’t have an effort on goal for the first 15-20 minutes. Pardew’s plans took a knock along with Jedinak’s knee early on, and Mutch came on; this did give the attack a bit more oomph on paper. Bamford’s game started to fall apart as he was pushed alongside Gayle and we felt that Murray would be a more appropriate weapon against this type of opponent; Patrick wasted a sublime moment of Zaha skill when snatching at a half volley and sending the ball over from 12 yards when he had plenty of time to set himself, and also missed another decent chance. At least now Palace started to make chances as Shrewsbury tired and Gayle put another effort from distance wide, but still too many moves broke down on the edge of the box. Finally Murray arrived for Bamford and the attack now had more focus, and as the Shrews ran out of gas we actually forced some saves from Leutwiler, who now looked flaky, saving one Gayle free kick with his knees when standing when even I would have bent down & picked the ball up. A fine run by Zaha ended with a cross shot just wide, and in stoppage time Gayle clipped the bar from 25 yards.
We all felt before extra time that Palace would now win 4-1 or 5-1 as Shrewsbury were on their knees compared to Premier League fitness levels, but it was grabbing the lead that looked the more difficult part. Actually it wasn’t, Murray finding space in the box with a turn and being dragged down by Sadler – a cast-iron penalty & red card but the referee probably felt he’d down his job awarding the second penalty, a matter of discussion between the official & Pardew. Glenn’s penalty was unstoppable and while the echoes of “Glenn Murray” ran around Selhurst, Gayle played in Lee who had an age to set himself and score the third. That was game pretty much over, and it was now a question of how many Palace would be satisfied with. Players with points to prove made sure we didn’t run down the clock, and a fine run & cross by Souaré down the left saw an excellent header from Zaha high into the net. Palace even ended with only 10 men as Gayle left the pitch unnoticed.
And for those of you who doubted the Hoodoo – well, we still can’t beat Shrewsbury in 90 minutes!
Hennessey – 5 – Only one chance to shine and was exposed too easily for Tootle’s goal. After that barely had anything to do.
Ward – 5 – Still looks off the pace, once having ten yards start on Brown but dawdled up the pitch and was robbed from behind.
Kelly – 6 – Little defending to do but did cause Shrewsbury lots of problems when running down the left side. Had far less attacking impact when switched to the right.
Mariappa – 6 – Very confident display until he looked to lose concentration in extra time and made three errors that Shrewsbury were too knackered to exploit.
Hangeland – 7 – Untroubled.
Ledley – 5 – Off the pace for much of the match, and was easily evaded by Tootle for their goal. Came more into the game as Shrewsbury tired late on.
Jedinak – 6 – Ran the game for much of the first half but far too deep to be meaningful. When he pushed forward it made a difference. Sadly injured so may be a doubt for Chelsea.
Zaha – 7 – It did look like another frustrating day for Wilf and us as his early penetrations down the right often ran into a thicket of blue-&-white shirts, and his crosses were either blocked or failed to find a target. Yet he worked hard for 120 minutes including doing some defensive work when occasionally called to do so. Switched to the left halfway through the second half. His skill earned the first penalty, he did have a fine run & shot late in the 90 minutes, and had enough energy & determination to meet Pape’s cross late in extra-time.
Lee – 6 – Poor first half when he played too indirectly, looking to pass or move sideways or backwards instead of running at defenders, summed up when he passed up a great opportunity for a shot while turning onto his stringer foot. The goal, which was gifted to him but he took very well, seemed to settle him down and, while never a decisive factor, he was better in the second half, when switched infield, although Shrewsbury’s heavy legs were a factor.
Bamford – 4 – Failed on his first big audition, never creating a link with Gayle from the no. 10 spot, and looking lost when pushed up as a striker. Not quick enough in thought or deed and the defenders found it easy to pick him up and take the ball off him.
Gayle – 6 – Not a factor for much of the first half and drew ire from the visitors for going to ground too often, before taking a fine penalty. As Shrewsbury tired Gayle’s habit of running at them started to pay dividends and started to make chances. Unlucky with a late shot from 25 yards that clipped the top of the bar.
Souaré – 7 – Didn’t have much to do defensively, although his heading ability improves, and was lucky with an awful scything tackle that on Saturday would see Hazard rolling in agony with a crowd of blue shirts hectoring the officials and Mourinho blowing his top; after a couple of reproving shouts his opponent got straight to his feet – they really have no idea how to play the game in League One, do they? More of an attacking factor and showed great pace & determination along with a fine cross for Wilf’s coup-de-grace.
Mutch – 6 – First touch as sub sparked an attack, but after that he was useful but not outstanding.
Murray – 7 – First touch 15 seconds after coming on was a foul. Then gave the attack a focus it had lacked, holding the ball up and bringing others into play, although like others was quick to go to ground. Won the second penalty with a good turn and smashed the ball home.