Sometimes teams that show a lack of ambition find it difficult to move through the gears when they fall behind in a match, and you wonder why they didn’t show that drive before they fell behind. Today was, for Palace, one of those days. In what had been a pretty grim and low quality Premier League encounter it was going to take a moment of quality or an almighty error to break the deadlock, and guess what option we chose? Annoyingly that was the cue for Palace to attack with more verve and intensity than they had shown in the previous hour, and as with recent games the final ball or finish was lacking. Leicester weren’t any better, scarcely making any chances after the first 15 minutes.

Off the pitch the afternoon began with the shock news that the club will have to sell one of their prime assets to keep our chairmen dry as Mr. Browett turned up at the stadium sans coat. I expect a bid from Chelsea for Yannick or Wilf in exchange for one of Jose’s old Matalan numbers, but – being Palace – we will probably end up with Sherwood’s cast-off Spurs gillets.

The team news was a little bit unexpected as well: Campbell in for the suspended Gayle was anticipated, Sako starting with Wilf dropping to the bench wasn’t surprising, but Souaré’s absence was, so Mariappa came in at right back with Kelly switching to the left. More surprising was the formation as Sako was pushed up alongside Campbell in an old-fashioned 4-4-2 with Puncheon playing wide on the right and Bolasie down the left.

The first 15 minutes saw Leicester’s only period where they could claim to be on top, with Mahrez difficult to pin down in that often mysterious area between defence & midfield, but even then there was a lack of goalmouth action. Their best chance came when Albrighton escaped Bolasie’s attentions and his run across the face of the box saw him passed on by defender to defender, none of whom sought to close him down or tackle him; even stranger was when he shot Hennessey didn’t move and was surprised to find the ball striking the inside of the post, Mahrez putting an even better chance wide from the rebound.

Palace soon found the answer to Leicester’s early success by dropping Cabaye & McArthur deeper in the middle, but were less successful in sparking any real action up front, the deeper-lying midfield now even less likely to support the attackers. There was some threat on the left where Bolasie & Kelly linked well on occasions, but often Sako found himself dragged out wide that side as well, which left us light in the middle. Campbell was having a poor game and Puncheon not much better. There was a moment when Sako was in space on the left side of the box, but when given the opportunity to shoot he elected to try to find Campbell & failed. Apart from one Cabaye effort straight down Schmeichel’s throat that was the sum of Palace attacks. Both teams looked far happier to try to strike on the counter, and in particular Palace’s moves were ponderous, slow and lacking any venom, with the ball often worked back to the central defenders & Hennessey.

The second half didn’t start much better and finally a change was made, the disappointing Campbell replaced by Bamford. It worked almost immediately... for the Foxes. Hangeland, as he has often done this season, was seeking to keep possession at the back but appeared to lose his balance as he tried a pass at the back, giving the ball to Vardy and a clear run in on goal. It looked like the striker on the hot streak couldn’t fail to score but he nearly did, the ball somehow being bundled past Hennessey and although Kelly nearly got back to clear, Vardy just beat him to knock the ball in.

Palace took a couple of minutes to hit the accelerator and it wasn’t until Zaha replaced Puncheon down the right that the character of the performance changed. Suddenly we were willing to run at pace and push men forward. Sako, another whose performance was far from stellar, did force a save from Schmeichel with a shot from the edge of the box. Jedinak then replaced Mariappa, with McArthur switching to right back, and Palace did start to gain a slight edge in midfield. Our best chance came when in a matter of a few seconds a Bamford header was clawed out by the keeper, then Dann’s goal bound header was blocked. Despite increasing pressure Leicester held on and were threatening on the break, another Hangeland error nearly sending Vardy in again. With time running out Bamford’s weak shot was saved easily, while Cabaye & McArthur sent shots well over. As time ran down Zaha tried to slip through between two defenders and went to ground in the box, only for referee Mike Dean to book Wilf for a dive. I thought there was some contact but Wilf’s eagerness to go down perhaps was more obvious to the ref; or Mike Dean is just a crap referee. City ran down the clock and were a little lucky to win a poor game thanks to a mistake.

Ratings

Hennessey – 6 – Very little to do, but I was worried by his lack of reaction to Albrighton’s effort – did he think it was going wide? Winning goal had similarities to West Ham’s third last week, not sure if he did well to nearly stop Vardy, or committed himself too early and made it easier for Vardy who nearly cocked up. His kicking was more inaccurate today than I’ve seen before.

Mariappa – 6 – Was occasionally outpaced by their left winger but wasn’t too threatened. Didn’t support Puncheon as much as Kelly did on his flank.

Kelly – 6 – Decent display, managing Albrighton reasonably well, and did try to get forward as soon as possible to support Bolasie.

Hangeland – 6 – Good showing but ruined by two poor unforced errors, the first of which broke the deadlock by unleashing Vardy (“So, apart from that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?”). The smug amongst us have been expecting disaster to befall us from that quarter, but to be honest I’d rather have a defence that seeks to keep possession than lump it forward aimlessly.

Dann – 7 – Kept Vardy on a tight leash and made some good headed clearances, also had a couple of attacking chances, with one header cleared from pretty much on the line.

Cabaye – 6 – Made more mistakes today than I’ve seen in previous matches, two of which sparked dangerous City counter-attacks, but was still the most accomplished passer of the ball on the pitch. Did a good defensive job too.

McArthur – 6 – Very quiet game, did more defensive work that anything creative. Switched to right back late on.

Puncheon – 4 – Disappointing, looked uncomfortable playing wide right and was rarely a factor in Palace attacks; sadly when he did find an excellent through ball Campbell was offside.

Bolasie – 6 – Saw a fair bit of ball down the left but very little end product until late on, when his crosses did create some headed chances as Palace threw men forward.

Sako – 5 – One decent moment in each half, but should have shot in the first half instead of crossing, and did draw a save in the second. But too often dragged wide out left, where he did help Yannick but left Campbell with no support on the middle when the cross came in. Was an underwhelming display.

Campbell – 4 – Given the chance to claim the striker’s spot in Wickham’s absence Fraizer had a poor game. Admittedly the service was risible but he failed to challenge Leicester’s central defenders and even his strong point of work-rate dropped.

Bamford – 6 – While he lacked the physicality to shrug off Huth’s attention and Murray’s canniness to win free kicks out of it, Patrick did make some good contributions, linking with the rest of the team in a way Campbell didn’t, and at least forced a save from Schmeichel.

Zaha – 6 – His arrival coincided with Palace putting the pressure on, but there were too few occasions when he beat his man and put in a good cross. I’m waiting to see a replay of the penalty claim as I’m sure there was contact but was Wilf already going down (Dean indicated a trailing leg clipping the defender).

Jedinak – 6 – Introduction gave us more steel in the middle, and Mile did try to press forward.