Crystal Palace extended their unbeaten run to six games after a 0-0 draw with Swansea City at Selhurst Park on Monday.
The Eagles had a couple of decent chances to break the deadlock. The first fell to Patrick Bamford, who had a clear sight at goal after the ball bounced around the box, yet he wasted it by kicking straight at Lukasz Fabianski. The second came through Wilfried Zaha who was found by Yohan Cabaye, but could not curl the ball enough to find the far-top corner.
Swansea had to wait until the end of the game for their best chance, when Gylfi Sigurdsson whipped in a free-kick that looked like it was destined to find the bottom corner before Wayne Hennessey got across to make a great save.
Crystal Palace will be looking the finish the festive period on a high note when they take on Chelsea at Selhurst Park while Swansea travel to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United in the New Year.
Crystal Palace
Wayne Hennessey – 7: When called upon late in the game he needed to be at his best to deny Sigurdsson, but apart from that he had a quiet game.
Joel Ward – 6: Made some key interceptions and clearances, also had some good play in attack when combining with Zaha.
Brede Hangeland – 5: Gave away the free-kick that almost saw Swansea take the lead late, but apart from that looked solid taking over from the injured Damien Delaney
Scott Dann – 6: Made some key tackles, particularly one on Madou Barrow when he would have been able to get in on goal.
Pape Souare – 6: Was good in both attack and defence, blocking deliveries into the Palace area and also trying to provide himself from early attacking crosses.
Mile Jedinak – 7: Was solid in the centre of the park and work hard to provide cover for the fullbacks when they went up the field.
James McArthur – 6: Made an interesting decision, trying to head the ball down rather than go for goal when in a decent position, but apart from that was also good in breaking up play among the midfield.
Wilfried Zaha – 6: Had some good chances towards the end, but was quiet during most of the game.
Yohan Cabaye – 5: Provided some fairly poor set pieces and got booked early. Will now miss the next game against Chelsea.
Jason Puncheon – 5: Put some decent crosses into the box, but apart from that had a quiet game before Lee Chung-Yong replaced him.
Marouane Chamakh – 4: Was very disappointing before being substituted at halftime for Patrick Bamford.
Substitutes
Patrick Bamford – 6: Provided much more than Chamakh and had a chance to break the deadlock, but kicked the ball straight at Fabianski.
Lee Chung-Yong – 5: Did not provide much after replacing Puncheon and gave away the ball cheaply on several occasions.
Jordon Mutch – 6: Made a decent run late in the game, but his finish went wide of the goal.
3 – Crystal Palace have failed to win their final league game in each of the last three years. Undoing.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 28, 2015
Swansea City
Lukasz Fabianski – 7: Made some good save that kept his team’s hope alive, in the face of chances from Hangeland and Bamford.
Kyle Naughton – 6: Had a good game against Puncheon not allowing him much space to work with, resulting in the Palace man being substituted.
Ashley Williams – 9: Was easily the man of the match and made some really key interventions that prevented Palace from getting into good goal scoring areas.
Jordi Amat – 6: Was decent in defence, not really letting Chamakh have too much space and had a chance to take the lead for the Swans, but had a miskick that was cleared by Ward.
Neil Taylor – 6: Had a good game against Zaha, only losing the attacker once early on in the game.
Jonjo Shelvey – 4: Was unable to provide any substance from set pieces before he was replaced by Ki Sung-yueng.
Jack Cork – 5: Was able to get some intercepts in late in the game and was strong in the midfield for the most part.
Matt Grimes – 5: Had a quiet outing, only really providing a couple of decent crosses.
Marvin Emnes – 5: Was replaced early in the second-half by Sigurdsson after not really providing much in attack
Modou Barrow – 6: Provided the most when moving forward for Swansea, but when he did get chances he was unable to convert.
Bafetimbi Gomis – 4: Provided very little in attack for much of the 90 minutes.
Substitutes
Ki Sung-yueng – 5: Gave away the ball cheaply a couple of times after replacing Shelvey early in the second-half.
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 7: Was one of the better players after coming on and provided the best opportunity for the Swans.
Kyle Bartley – 5: Did not really make an impact on the game after coming on for Amat.
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