Ground out day! Newcastle 2 Crystal Palace 0
Posted on January 27th, 2010 | 27 Comments |
The best words to describe that display tonight might be “meh” or “ppffftt”, as it rendered me largely speechless. Which is no mean feat. But not for the first time, and probably not for the last this season, while feeling bitterly short-changed by the entertainment (sic) on show, we yet again managed to grind out the win and take all three points.
Some inevitable changes from the weekend game saw Harper replacing Krul in goal, Kadar moved out to fill in for the injured Danny Simpson and the suspended Ryan Taylor at right back. While Mike Williamson partnered Coloccini in the centre. Guthrire moved back out to the right and with Nolan dropping back into midfield with Smith, Pancrate made way for Lovenkrands to play upfront with Andy Carroll. Fellow ‘new boy’, Wayne Routledge had to make do with a place on the bench.
Crystal Palace were forced into a number of changes, partly through injury and partly due to their current administration process. As a result, Victor Moses and potentially some others may not be allowed to play while the transfer window remains open, as they are saleable assets. Palace could only name three substitutes as a consequence.
Despite their adversity, Palace proved to be anything but the pushovers some were hoping for and put in a decent shift. And they created the first opportunity when Ambrose set up Andrew in the box but Harper did well in coming to meet the striker and pushing the ball out of his path.
It was Newcastle though who had the next clear cut chance, when Jose Enrique scampered down the wing and when his cross was perfectly weighted, Peter Lovenkrands should have done better at the back post, but failed to connect properly.
Palace were forced into an early change when defender Ertl went off through injury, but rather than unsettling them, they could and should have been 1-0 up when Danny Butterfield met a decent cross but inexplicably headed wide, when it was easier to score.
And Palace were punished for spurning their early chances when Andy Carroll forced Palace midfielder Shaun Derry into hooking into his own net, to give us the lead after 20 minutes. However, not longer after, Jose Enrique pulled up and hobbled off holding his hamstring.
Hughton surprised everyone by bringing on Fabrice Pancrate to play right back and Kadar switching sides to fill in for Enrique. Another option might have been to bring on Routledge and drop Guthrie to full back but presumably the gaffer may have been worried about Guthrie’s lack of pace exposing him.
Wayne Routledge made his bow on the hour, coming on for Lovenkrands who had taken a knock, and dropped in just behind Carroll. Showing some lively touches, he was ultimately frustrated by a lack of cohesive midfield play.
With the game going nowhere fast, it was going to take a goal from the new boys or something equally as momentous to send the fans home something akin to satisfied. And lo and behold, when Nile Ranger replaced Jonas Gutierrez, the scene was set. Wayne Routledge did well to slide the ball into the gap behind the defence, and Ranger timed his run perfectly but still had plenty to do. With goalkeeper and defenders closing in fast, the youngster finished with aplomb for his first home goal, to make 2-0.
So yet another far from pretty game and still we took all of the points. When Enrique went off, predictably our outlet on the left had us looking desperately for other options, but without any real pace in the middle it was pedestrian at times.
Palace players and fans deserve a pat on the back for turning up and doing their bit, despite everything that is going on at their club. We may have to count the injuries which saw Enrique limp off, Lovenkrands take a knock and even Gutierrez walk gingerly from the field. Perhaps more headaches for Hughton ahead of an important game on Saturday.
Lots to think about and we can moan and groan about lack of quality and even lack of numbers despite the current purchases, because more injuries may start to take their toll. Solid debut for Williamson and an assist for Routledge is a good start but we hoped they’d be additions and not replacements for those falling like flies.
However, putting things in perspective and looking at the visitors’ current plight, we should be grateful for small mercies, as things could be worse. We can only hope someone comes to Palace’s rescue. As for the black and whites, we may need to step up a gear to get anything out of Saturday.
Us – Harper 7, Enrique 7, Coloccini 7, Williamson 7, Kadar 6, Guthrie 6, Nolan 6, Smith 7, Gutierrez 6, Carroll 6, Lovenkrands 6.
Subs – Krul, Butt, Tozer, Donaldson, Pancrate 6, Routledge 7, Ranger 7.
Crystal Palace – Speroni, Clyne, Ertl, Hill, Hills, Carle, Ambrose, Butterfield, Derry, Danns, Andrew.
Subs – Lawrence, Djilali, Lee.
Att -37,886 (probably just shy of 1,000 Palace fans).
NUFCBlog Author: bowburnmag
bowburnmag has written 234 articles on this blog.
Just got back home, here’s my players ratings:
1) Harper (7) – Made a great save
2) Kadar (6) – Settled after a shakey start
3) Enrique (6) – Was looking ok until pulling up
4) Collo (7) – Calm and assured
5) WILLIAMSON (8) – Strong in air, rock solid
6) Smith (6) – Did his job protecting back 4
7) Guthrie (5) – No flair or creativity, lacks pace
Nolan (5) – Looks poor in a 4 4 2 formation,no energy
9) Jonas (6) – Looked lost when Enrique went off
10) Loverman (5) – Little impact, missed a sitter
11) Carroll (5) – Little impact, goes down easily
Subs
12) Pancrate – (6) Shakey first half then settled
13) Routledge – (7) Made an impact injected pace and
guile.
14) Ranger – (6) Scored good goal and worked hard
All in all this was a poor team performance from a number of players, Nolan looks terrible in a 4 4 2 formation and has little impact, he is far better suited in a 5 man midfield playing off the loan striker particularly in away games.
Williamson had a sound game and showed leadership qualities.
Routledge thankfully is not another Franz Carr as he can cut inside and deliver a precision through ball.
I can honestly say that both debutants made an impact in tonights game.
Tonight was all about the result and thankfully we got all 3 points.
Off to bed now.