Crystal Palace vs. Sunderland - Match Report

The_B_Man

At a foggy Selhurst Park Palace recorded their first win in three against a good Sunderland side that had been unbeaten in seven prior to their visit.

A first-half goal from Mark Hudson was enough for Palace but in the second-half the Eagles had to ride out the Sunderland onslaught with Julian Speroni putting in a faultless display in goal and Hudson and Darren Ward repelling every ball into the box.

After the defeat at Derby last week Peter Taylor made three changes bringing in Carl Fletcher, Gary Borrowdale and Danny Butterfield in place of Ben Watson, Danny Granville and Matt Lawrence. There were also places on the bench for Marco Reich and Dougie Freedman.

The misty conditions around SE25 meant that both sides took a while to settle, but in the eighth minute Sunderland very nearly took the lead. A corner from the left was headed away by Hudson but only as far as Liam Miller, fortunately for Palace though the Eire international struck his shot wide.

Palace hit back though and had a chance of their own as Fletcher headed fractionally over but in the 14th minute a good passing move by Sunderland resulted in David Connolly shooting across goal from an acute angle.

After a good 10 minutes with a lack of goalmouth action Palace had two good chances in as many minutes. First Mark Kennedy's long range drive took a deflection which forced Sunderland goalkeeper Darren Ward into a diving save and then Clinton Morrison struck a shot just wide from the corner of the penalty area.

As the fog started to thicken Graham Kavanagh forced Speroni into a comfortable save then Kennedy again tried his luck from distance at the other end but this time the ball went straight at Ward.

In difficult conditions both sides struggled to create clearcut chances but in the 41st minute Palace took the lead thanks to a great finish from centre-back Mark Hudson. A long ball from Butterfield into the box was headed back across goal by Shefki Kuqi for Hudson, who had stayed forward following a free-kick, to volley home from 18 yards. It was a great finish worthy of a striker and it gave Palace a deserved lead going into the half-time break.

It was a low key start to the second-half, but Palace were holding firm. Kavanagh struck a fierce drive straight at Speroni and the Palace defence were forced to defend a string of corners from Roy Keane's men, one of which was scrambled away from the six yard box.

After an hour Keane brought on winger Ross Wallace for Grant Leadbitter and the Scot nearly made an instant impact as his wicked cross was headed just over by Dean Whitehead.

Palace were struggling to get out of their own half in the second period and Sunderland were putting the Eagles under immense pressure. A Wallace shot was deflected forcing Speroni into a scrambling save, but in all honesty the visitors could not create a clear opening.

In the 71st minute Taylor made his first substitution bringing on James Scowcroft for Kuqi but it was Sunderland who continued to push forward with another Wallace effort getting a deflection and going narrowly wide.

With just over 10 minutes to go Roy Keane threw on Dwight Yorke and Chris Brown and it was the former's free-kick that was met by Connolly at the far post but Speroni made a spectacular save and tipped the ball over the bar. A few seconds later the Argentine keeper had to be alert to scoop the ball away from Connolly again as he closed in on goal.

The visitors were winning plenty of free-kicks around the Palace penalty area but both Hudson and Ward were remaining rock solid at the back. In a bid to try and get the ball to stick in the Sunderland half Taylor brought on Freedman for Morrison and the move seemed to work as Palace forced Sunderland back into their own half for a five minute spell and the Scot had a good claim for a penalty turned down. It looked a good shout as Stanislav Varga gave Freedman a shove in the back but referee Lee Probert waved the protests away.

Matt Lawrence was brought on for Kennedy with only a few minutes to go as Palace kept Sunderland at bay for a vital three points.

PALACE: Speroni; Butterfield, Ward, Hudson, Borrowdale; Soares, Kennedy (Lawrence 88), Fletcher (c), McAnuff; Kuqi (Scowcroft 71), Morrison (Freedman 83).
Subs not used: Flinders, Reich.
Booked: Fletcher.
Goalscorers: Hudson (41).

SUNDERLAND: Ward; Nosworthy, Varga, Caldwell (c), Collins; Whitehead, Miller (Yorke 75), Leadbitter (Wallace 60), Kavanagh; Murphy (Brown 75), Connolly.
Subs not used: Fulop, Nyatanga.
Booked: Varga

MrJoeSoap

Thanks for that...

There is a Championship thread you know?