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CRYSTAL PALACE AWAY 2-4-05
Photos by Lillibet M
Final whistle: 1657 - Report online: 1702
Schwarzer, Parnaby, Riggott, Southgate, Queudrue, Parlour, Boateng, Zenden, Downing, Viduka, Hasselbaink
Jones, Cooper, Doriva, Graham, Nemeth
The First Half
One look at the Boro team today should have been enough to give us complete confidence that we would be taking no less than three points from this fixture.
Parlour, Boateng and Viduka would obviously be slightly rusty but the boost that their return gave us would hopefully make up for any shortfalls in pace or sharpness...
Boro started brightly and looked to have the creative edge early on but it was Palace who had hearts racing as the ball fell in the box to Andy Johnson who should have given Palace the lead. But he fluffed it and Boro had got out of jail.
Johnson was very obviously the Palace dangerman and there were concerns after ten minutes that Captain Southgate may not have the pace to deal with him.
After eleven minutes, Szilard Nemeth and Danny Graham started to warm up, for Mark Viduka had become injured. The incident must have occurred during one of Mark's two touches of the ball, because no opposition player had been near him yet. Perhaps the ball was too hard because it had been inflated too much and he had inujured his toe when he passed it? He walked off, knackered. And substitute The Lizard came on.
A few moments later, down went Bolo, his knees giving way for no apparent reason. He tried after some time to run it off but we were down to ten men for far too long. Doriva continued to warm up...
And just as we were expecting dancing lions and painted clowns to enter the field, JFH took the ball past his marker and produced a moment of near genius as he worked the ball into a shooting position. The shot was just wide but it shook the game from the farce that it was becoming and signalled Boro's intent when staring a bizarre scenario in the face.
Johnson went one slightly better though very shortly afterwards and was unlucky to see his fierce shot skim the post...
A period of stalemate followed but it was broken in dramatic fashion when Franck Queudrue, the Irishman, won us a corner in the thirty fifth minute and was on the end of the set piece to bullet a header into the back of the net.
We hung on to the lead going into half time, but only just. Dougie Freedman and Andy Johnson combined well to create an opportunity that resulted in the ball ricocheting around in the box dangerously. Containing this pair of lively strikers had to be the priority in the second half.
Fan Reaction
"We're very lucky that they are not taking their chances."
Datsun
"How the hell did Viduka get injured? Maybe he really is finished..."
JohnHickton
The Second Half
Luckily, nobody managed to become injured during the half time break and we started the second with the same lineup that ended the first half.
The early minutes of the half were frenetic as Palace carried the game to Boro. The Eagles were dominant and determined to claw back the scoreline. But credit to Gareth Southgate who within eight minutes of the restart, had expertly mopped and cleared up on three occasions.
The concerted Palace pressure was only relieved by Bolo Zenden's final moments of the game. He had tried like hell to shake off the knock that he had picked up earlier but it was not to be. Enter Doriva and Boro were beginning to look more like our March 2005 version rather than the class of November 2004 that we had earlier resembled.
Play was further delayed as Franck O'Queudrue needed treatment on his hand. Maybe he had twatted a wall in frustration, because Johnson was looking like he had the Irishman's number. And Franck was booked on fifty-seven minutes for a foul on the advancing Johnson.
But the yellow card was a small price to pay as Palace lost all their steam after the booking incident. Their early half momentum had vanished and Boro now started to take control with George Boateng leading the line.
With eight minutes to go until the red zone, the game had become lacklustre and Seamus Queudrue was now struggling with his injured hand. Boeteng was booked for a lunge at Johnson and it was a shame, because his performance today was outstanding.
Danny Graham entered the 'action' in the seventy-seventh minute replacing Viduka's replacement, The Lizard. We must have substituted more substitutes this season than any other team. There was Job in the home game with Chelsea and another one that I can't recall now.
The Red Zone
Palace found renewed vigour in the final ten minutes and bombarded the Boro goal. The pressure increased as the concluding period drew to a close and we did very well to hold on.
Captain Southgate was a rock and looked back to his best. Long may it continue.
We got out of jail again in the final minute as Johnson missed his second sitter of the day. It was a clear-cut header at the near post and he completely fluffed it. Moments later, the final whistle blew and we had our three points.
Fan Reaction
"Three points and an ugly win. Get in!"
JohnHickton
"We're on our way to Europe!!"
Holy Smog
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