Few would have imagined the pandemonium that followed Saturday's final whistle prior to the match - but a monumental performance saw the Eagles through. Mark Gardiner takes a detailed look at the Palace display.
I’ve seen some of football’s great citadels fall to the Palace – Old Trafford, Highbury, the Withdean... so it was about time Stamford Bridge joined that list. Two hoodoo’s dating back to the 1980’s dispelled in one week (actually Shrewsbury is still the one to wake me in cold sweats). And I thought the highlight might be “Jose is a Palace fan” bringing applause from Mourinho himself. I did try & talk Big Tone out off putting cold hard cash on Palace to win 2-1 on Friday... better start running now.
To start with the opposition, as Match of the Day surely will, crisis-club Chelsea lined up in a familiar 4-2-3-1 formation, although whether two holding midfielders would be required against Palace strokes me as excessively cautious. And while the formation mirrored Palace, it lacked two crucial components in a pair of proper wingers. Chelsea were often denied width, or required the likes of Costa to run wide, and rarely made the crosses that defences hate; only once did they fire in a good early cross and that saw Falcao score. Palace, of course, have wingers aplenty, the latest a free transfer from Wolverhampton. I can just imagine Roman wondering where this Black Country is & why he spent so much on Pedro, who never approached any of our trio’s impact on the game.
We are also witnessing that extreme oddity: a Jose Mourinho team with an Arsene Wenger midfield, all trippy-tappy, edge of the box stuff. There is a Frank Lampard shaped hole in the middle of that team. And Costa may be an aggressive sod but he lacks that efficient brutality that Drogba brought. Could be worse though – you could be standing in the rain stuck in a queue outside a tube station and you’ve just lost at home... oh, you are...
Pardew made one change from the Villa match with fit again Wickham replacing Murray, who didn’t even make the bench (any offers?). Originally the midfield three lined up with Zaha on the left, Puncheon on the right and Sako in the middle. What this did give us plenty of attacking prowess down the left with Souaré & Sako joining Wilf, put often left us lacking an out ball on the right. As against Villa this was changed at half time with Wilf switching to the right, Sako the left and Puncheon down the middle, which looked more natural. Later, when Zaha was taken off, Sako switched to the right with Bolasie down the left. You really had to feel for poor Ivanovic who had to face all three of our flying wingers! The holding midfield of Cabaye & McArthur worked like Trojans in closing down, hassling, tackling & throwing in the odd foul, while the wingers were extremely diligent in their defensive duties. Dann & Delaney continue to show all the flimsiness of a granite boulder, while McCarthy turned in a performance that showed perhaps why he got the nod ahead of Hennessey, and why Julian may not walk straight back into the team.
Palace played with a high line, meeting Chelsea on the halfway line and gradually dropping back if the Blues made any serious progress. There won’t be many highlights of the first 30 minutes but that doesn’t mean it was boring – if anything it was engrossing watching the work put in to deny Chelsea space while looking to hit on the break. Wilf started brightly and soon worked a cross in that ended on the roof of the net, while Chelsea’s only realistic chance saw the underwhelming Pedro shoot just wide. Palace played some good passing football at times and had a good spell around the half-hour, Sako cutting in from the left and seeing his shot saved, then Zaha set up a chance that was spurned by Cabaye – from 15 yards out he had all the goal to aim at but put his shot too close to Courtois. Sako had another half chance before Chelsea had their first real spell of pressure, a fine double save from McCarthy aided by Dann and some interference from Delaney, before Matic waltzed through a defence that seemed frozen in place only to offer an even weaker effort than Yohan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jujSPPWtor4
The second half was just as balanced at the start before again Palace had a good spell, some good work by Zaha & Wickham prompting some panic in the Chelsea box, Wickham just failing to reach a cross from Sako, who then forced another save from Courtois with an accurate low shot. Again the momentum swung, Delaney blocking three crosses / shots with the family jewels inside a few seconds, then Puncheon lost the ball in midfield which allowed Pedro to get a shot in that was blocked, before Souaré headed off the line from the following corner. Palace’s response was swift & deadly: Bolasie, on for Zaha, linked well with Souaré down the left and the cross was finished off at the second attempt by Sako. A state of mild delirium ensued in our end. It nearly got far better, as Puncheon mis-hit a volley from a promising position, then Bolasie missed a great chance on the end of a cross from Sako, before nearly making amends with a curling shot that just missed.
We did fear that we would regret these chances, Yannick’s first miss in particular, and as Mourinho threw on attackers (including that rare sighting of a rare young Englishman) for defensive veterans the game again began to tilt back towards the Blue corner. For the first time Pedro got into position to deliver a great cross and Falcao beat Delaney with a diving header that zipped in at McCarthy’s near post. Palace veterans now began counting down to Chelsea’s certain late winner (Hazard penalty, perchance?) but instead the team showed an application and attitude that bodes well for this season. They didn’t bemoan their fate but got straight back onto the front foot, Bolasie again dismantling Chelsea’s right-side defence; his fine right-footed cross was met at the far post by Sako who disdained a shot for a dinked ball back that was finished off by, of all people, our right back on the six-yard line.
This change in circumstances was met with a distinct lack of decorum in the upper tier; hats were removed in the presence of ladies and I suspect strong liquor may have been imbibed. Chelsea strove to hit back, with winger Kenedy playing at right back suddenly asking all sorts of awkward questions, and McCarthy amid some goalmouth scrambles had to make a fine save from Fabregas, while Dann blocked another late effort. Yet Palace still finished on the front foot, breaking away and running the clock down. At the end they deserved the three points for skill, attitude and sheer cussedness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPnxzdvN8mE
Ratings:
McCarthy – 8 – The double save: last season Julian was blamed for pushing shots back towards the attackers; sometimes just making the save itself is all the keeper can do, and Alex’s priority with the first shot was to stop the ball going in. To get back up and block the second effort (admittedly with a little help from Dann) was brilliant. He made some other good saves too, especially a late one from Fabregas, and also commanded his box most of the time (he did get lost under one far post corner). Would be harsh to blame him for the header that beat him on the near post – so don’t!
Ward – 7 – We are holding on for a point and what the heck was our right back doing in their box – hell, in their half! Seriously, Joel now has as many goals this season as all our strikers put together (two penalties) but few will be as sweet. It summed up the approach of the team. Fairly quiet otherwise as Chelsea didn’t show much on the left until Kenedy’s arrival but there was a good block when Costa set Pedro free.
Souaré – 7 – Another fine display including involvement in the first goal and clearing off the line. Defensively did well until Pedro got in the cross for their goal. Increasingly looks a good purchase.
Dann – 8 – Made a couple of mistakes in possession that weren’t expensive, but pretty faultless otherwise, putting in late blocks in both halves, and made plenty of clearing headers.
Delaney – 9 – Will not be swapping Christmas cards with Costa this year. Played one poor ball out and was just beaten by Falcao for their goal, but I lost count of the number of times Damien just simply got in the way of the Chelsea machine. Forget £50m for Stones, Mourinho may be spotted skulking around Beckenham way next week with Mr. Abramovich’s cheque book prominent.
Cabaye – 7 – Much of his work is missed as it is positional defensive work, but Yohan does it so often & so well that we can say Jedinak wasn’t as missed as we had feared. His passing is better, although his set piece delivery was mostly disappointing, and he really shouldn’t have made our best chance of the first half so easy for the keeper.
McArthur – 7 – Same role and performance from Jimmy, kept running right to the end.
Puncheon – 7 – Flitted in & out of the game, not seen much down the right in the first half as often slid infield, where he made some good touches. More prominent in the second half when he could have scored one & created one, but also lost possession cheaply in the middle to set Costa away. Ran out of steam towards the end but did provide an overhead flick & back heel in one glorious scene.
Zaha – 7 – Tormented Ivanovic in the first half but with little return except for creating a great chance for Cabaye. Worked terribly hard defensively, even if I wish he wouldn’t follow that up by trying to slip between two opponents 15 yards inside our half (works in the Championship, Wilf, but perhaps not here). I was surprised he was taken off as he was looking dangerous down the right.
Sako – 9 – Did we really pick this beast of a player up on a free from Molyneaux? Has someone swapped Pedro & Sako over? Scored one, helped make another, and nearly grabbed another tow as well as setting up a good chance for Yannick. Did look more effective out wide than through the middle, but he tended to drift left anyways.
Wickham – 7 – A future quiz question as the only player to feature in the two teams that Beat Jose in the League at the Bridge. Hard day as was mostly controlled by Cahill, but especially in the second half held the ball up well.
Subs:
Bolasie – 8 – Poor Ivanovic: Sees off Zaha; gets run over by Sako; then looks up & sees Yannick bearing down on him. Provided the crosses for both goal and could have scored two himself. What an impact player!
Ledley – 6 – Late sub for Cabaye who had run into the ground, and provided solidity as well as two good clearing headers.
Lee – 6 – Even later sub for Sako who helped run the clock down.