Crystal Palace’s poor start to the second-half of the season dragged on with a 2-1 loss to Bournemouth at Selhurst Park early this morning.
The Eagles did manage to score first goal of the match in the 27th minute, after some good play from Lee Chung-yong to find Wilfried Zaha with a nice back heel. From there, Zaha got to the edge of the box and delivered a cross that Scott Dann finished with a volley past Artur Boruc.
Bournemouth did not have to wait long to get the score back level though. In the 34th minute, Marc Pugh worked hard to get into a dangerous position and was able to beat Wayne Hennessey down low.
Despite dominating for large periods of the game, Palace was unable to take advantage and the Cherries took the lead. After Matt Ritchie’s shot was saved by Hennessey, Benik Afobe nodded the rebound home in the 57th minute.
Palace will be hoping that some of the promise that they showed in the game will actually benefit them when they next take on Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, while Bournemouth return home to face Arsenal.
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Crystal Palace
Wayne Hennessey – 5: Will feel that he should have done better on the second goal, perhaps directing the ball either side rather than right into the middle of the box.
Joel Ward – 6: Worked hard in defence to ensure that the Bournemouth attackers were unable to break away into space and also provided some decent passes going forward.
Scott Dann – 6: Scored Palace’s first goal of the New Year but apart from that had a mixed game. May have been able to close down Pugh before he scored.
Damien Delaney – 4: Had a difficult game in defence. Was caught out on more than one occasion by Afobe and again should have put more pressure on Pugh.
Pape Souare – 6: Had a decent game when going forward and covered for the mistakes by Delaney on multiple occasions.
James McArthur – 5: Picked up a knock in the first-half and was never really able to impact during his time on the field.
Mile Jedinak – 6: Worked really hard going forward, especially in the second-half when Palace were trying to get the win.
Wilfried Zaha – 7: The best player that Palace had. Caused some real issues for both Daniels and Smith, also provided the assist for the only home goal. Occasionally lost his head a little, engaging in arguments with both the opposition and referee.
Lee Chung-yong – 6: Had his best game this season, provided some good passes going forward before he was replaced by Marouane Chamahk.
Jason Puncheon – 5: Took a while to get into the game and struggled to provide from set pieces, which was a detriment to his side.
Frazier Campbell – 5: Did not provide too much in attack and was eventually replaced by new signing Emmanuel Adebayor.
Substitutes
Jordan Mutch – 5: Was not the best performance from the midfielder, who apart from a couple of runs forward but struggled for consistency
Emmanuel Adebayor – 6: After coming off the bench showed some real potential for what he can provide and had some sights at goal late on.
Marouane Chamakh – 5: Had a chance late to potentially grab a point for his side, but apart from that was quiet.
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Bournemouth
Artur Boruc – 6: Made a great save that denied Chamakh from grabbing a tying goal at the death.
Adam Smith – 5: Had a difficult time in the second-half against Zaha and gave away fouls in dangerous positions.
Simon Francis – 6: Another player who was caught in the wrong, commiting fouls in the final-third on multiple occasions, but did use his body to block some chances.
Steve Cook – 6: Had a successful game against Campbell, not allowing him to break free at all before he was taken off.
Charlie Daniels – 6: Provided the assist for the Pugh goal. In defence he did struggle against Zaha when he was on that side of the field.
Dan Gosling – 6: Played in the pass for Richie’s shot that lead to Afobe’s goal and worked hard to assist his fullbacks against the threat of Zaha.
Matt Ritchie – 8: Was one of the better players for Bournemouth and provided plenty going forward, including the shot that was rebounded for Afobe.
Harry Arter – 5: A quieter game for the midfielder and he did waste one of the better free kicks that the Cherries had.
Andrew Surman – 5: Provided a little going forward but apart from that made no impact on the game.
Marc Pugh – 6: Scored the equalising goal after some good quick feet, while also providing some decent passes going forward.
Benik Afobe – 7: Continued his good scoring form with his third goal in as many games and caused continuous issues for the Palace central-defenders.
Benik Afobe becomes the first Bournemouth player to score in three successive PL fixtures for his club. pic.twitter.com/u7NRf3DX5l
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) February 2, 2016
Substitutes
Joshua King – 5: Only really had once chance going forward that was closed down by Ward.
Lewis Grabban – N/A: Apart from a run in with Zaha, made no real impact on the game after coming on late.
Sylvain Distin – N/A: Introduced with a minute remaining.
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