Here's Mark Gardiner with ratings and reviews from the North-East after the 0-0 draw with Sunderland.
It was, according to Tony Pulis, a “must not lose” match yesterday; certainly it was a game neither side appeared equipped to win. While the swirling wind and a poor pitch hampered some of the play it cannot excuse the overall poverty of it. Palace departed the happier of the two teams, maintain their lead over Sunderland, but questions about the ability to score and the central midfield are starting to pile up: it has been over four & a half matches since we managed a goal that wasn’t a penalty, and don’t be fooled by the match stats as Mannone in the home goal didn’t have anything other than comfortable saves to make.
The Palace line-up was interesting given that neither specialist left back made it into the XVI. Mariappa, who has barely been glimpsed under the new regime, came in at right back, with Ward switching to the left side. Ledley played on the left side of midfield but not in an advanced role; perhaps he was stationed there to help cut down the threat from Adam Johnson. Bolasie was in a more familiar advanced role on the right, while Ince switched to the hole behind Murray, the position where he had such an impact on his debut.
Palace hardly put a decent move together in the first 20 minutes with Sunderland seeing a lot of the ball in our half. Worryingly we gave away far too many cheap free kicks in areas where crosses could rain down into the box, especially with both full backs seeing yellow cards early on. The referee, while consistent in his cautioning of players, was less so in his decisions on what constituted a foul challenge, with both Bolasie & Murray seemingly cut down from behind on several occasions but not winning the free kick. Palace’s midfield wasn’t helping matters either, both KG & Jedinak frittering possession away cheaply with some awful short-range passing. Sunderland’s best early chance came when Jedinak & Mariappa somehow conspired to set up a Mackem chance that went across the goal; Sunderland were finding a lot of space behind Mariappa (a tactic United used at Old Trafford so long ago) and Bolasie was having to do an awful lot of diligently tracking back. Fortunately Sunderland’s crossing was mostly below par, and on the odd occasion when they did find a forward the header was off-target, Julian having one early shot straight down his throat as the only save in the first half. Actually the best cross into Palace’s box came from a wildly mis-hit volleyed clearance from Ince that ballooned to Borini at the far post only for an athletic volley to go well wide. Palace were also slow to pick up on the Black Cats’ short corner routine.
Up front Palace hardly registered, not surprising given the dearth of creativity in the middle & the propensity for Jedi & KG to give the ball away. Ince was once again lightweight, easily knocked off the ball and lacking a bit of bite in the challenge; he spoiled one good break with a poor pass. Murray, isolated and not getting anything from the ref, was hardly in the game. When Palace did have a chance of imposing a little pressure from a set piece Bolasie took a quick free kick straight to the opposition. Towards the end of the half Palace did manage one decent passing move down the left only for Ledley to stub his tow when shooting from the edge of the box. The game was summed up when Palace’s best chance came when Mannone slipped clearing under pressure only to find Ince’s 30-yard effort comfortably returned to him.
Sunderland upped the tempo immediately after half-time with sub Altidore bringing a sharp save from Julian although an offside decision made it a moot point. He did better later on for real when turning aside another Altidore effort. In return Ince & Murray worked an opening for Bolasie down the right but the shot lacked power and was easily gathered by Mannone; Yannick soon returned the favour for Murray with a good cross but Glenn was unable to get a decent connection with his head. Sunderland lacked invention, with Johnson well shackled by Ward, and their best openings tended to come when Palace gave the ball away while moving forward: Jedinak, KG and (surprisingly) Dann all committed the grievous sin of gifting the opposition the ball, and Delaney gained a yellow card in breaking up one such break. As against Southampton we nearly conceded from our corner against a swift break.
Growing desperate right-back Bardsley broke into our box onto to throw himself into a ridiculous dive after brushing against a defender. Sunderland nearly grabbed the points when yet another loose ball in midfield was seized upon and Borini escaped the defence in acres on the right, only for his shot to canon off the bar, then fire narrowly over seconds later. Their last real chance game through yet another Jedinak error, bailed out by Speroni’s rapid advance from his line and solid header clear. By this time Palace had made changes: Jerome came on for a lacklustre Murray; Guédioura for the disappointing Ince; and Puncheon for Bolasie. This did pep up the attack and some late chances came, with Ledley putting a decent chance wide and Puncheon’s shot on target but not making Mannone work. However the best chance fell to KG after good work from Guédioura and Jerome saw the ball drop to KG 10 yards out, only for his shot to sail past the far post. It would have been totally undeserved, but then neither side had the quality to break the stalemate.
Ratings:
Speroni – 7 – Comfortable first half, only one shot on target and dealt well with a couple of crosses, although one moment’s miscommunication with the defence nearly let Fletcher in at the cost of a corner. Second half two sharp saves from Altidore (even if one would not have counted) but best when dealing with a late break by coming swiftly off his line to head clear.
Mariappa – 6 – Started poorly, being booked early on for two poor challenges, and was often caught by the ball over his head to land in his quarter, but then settled down and very little came down that flank for the rest of the game.
Ward – 7 – Like his fellow full back picked up an early caution which didn’t bode well for 90 minutes against Adam Johnson, but managed to keep him quiet for much of the match, although slow to pick up on short corners from that side.
Delaney – 6 – Found Fletcher a handful in the air, but probably drew that particular duel. When faced with Borini in the second half lost him for the effort that came off the bar. Picked up a yellow card in frustration at giving the ball away.
Dann – 5 – Coped well with Borini in the first half but found Altidore a far more difficult opponent in the second, twice being beaten to crosses only to be saved by Julian. Also tried to run the ball out of our half only to be caught in possession.
Jedinak – 4 – The quality of his passing, even the short ball, continues to deteriorate, too often giving the ball to a colleague under pressure or, worse, cutting out the middle man and giving it straight to a red & white shirt. Bailed out by Delaney, Speroni and Sunderland’s lack of a cutting edge.
Dikgacoi – 4 – Not quite as profligate with the ball as Mile but not far off it, setting up more than one Sunderland break by conceding possession. Also missed a great chance to steal the three points late on by not hitting the target from 10 yards out – admittedly at an angle but poor nonetheless.
Ledley – 7 – Helped Ward police the left side defensively. Not as attacking as Yannick but popped up in one good move in the first half only to fail to get his shot away, then missing from a decent position in the second half. Would prefer to see him in the middle three with Bannan & one of KG or Jedinak.
Bolasie – 6 – Worked hard, particularly defensively, which are words I don’t think I could have recorded a year ago, as he had to cover the space behind Mariappa. Didn’t show as much up front as in recent matches, although set up a chance for Murray in the first half and had one shot on target in the second.
Ince – 4 – Continued a run of performances which could not even be described as peripheral. One or two nice touches, setting up Ledley’s first half sight of goal, gut once again found wanting in the challenge, either knocked too easily off the ball or lacking aggression in the tackle.
Murray – 5 – Saw little of the ball in the first half, and when he did usually coughed up possession, sometimes under “unfair” challenges not so ruled by the ref. Not much better in the second half but did have a header wide under pressure and set up a chance for Bolasie. Looked tired by the time he was substituted.
Subs:
Jerome – 6 – Provided a more direct threat when he came on and that little extra pace did force a couple of half chances.
Guédioura – 6 – Started poorly with his first two interventions being to give the ball away then giving away a cheap free kick in a dangerous area. Then settled down and provided a good link to Jerome, helping set up KG’s chance. Had a free kick that curled just wide but lacked the pace to embarrass Mannone.
Puncheon – 6 – Not much time to do anything but a couple of good moves down the right and a shot that was easily saved by Mannone.
See what a Sunderland fan thought of the game here.