It’s so nice not to have to worry about whether or not results go Palace’s way now. These final few games of the season are a time to relax and enjoy the football, you would have thought. Well, up until a few minutes into the game yesterday, I was looking forward to an exciting match of football. It’s fair to say that I was left disappointed.
One word can be used to sum up the effort mustered up for us fans yesterday: boring. I should have known as soon as Chelsea had secured victory up in Anfield that there would be only one team up for winning yesterday. Manchester City came along and got what they wanted- a decent victory which now puts them in pole position for the title race. After the five previous win’s that Palace had picked up to secure safety, in which desire, dedication and sheer willpower had been shown by the players, yesterday put a dampener on my mood.
It seemed as if nobody was up for the fight. Everybody expected a City win, so why put in any effort to correct that? As a unit and on an individual level, the players did not work as hard as they had done previously. The banner from the wonderful Holmesdale fanatics stated before the game that Palace had soul. On yesterday’s account, it would be hard to find any of that throughout the 90 minutes.
Despite a disappointing performance, once again one man stood out for the red and blue. Marouane Chamakh was fantastic. His skill was sublime, his touch talented, and he was by far the best Palace player on the pitch. The defence once again put in a spirited performance, but City’s skills were no match for a Palace side who showed little desire. Players like Yaya Toure are a class above. Coming back from injury but still on the top of your game is the sign of a player will real class. Toure oozes class.
It’ll be a case of the players dusting themselves down and moving on to the game against Liverpool next Monday. If Palace show the same levels of effort and energy that they did a couple of games ago, then another scalp at Selhurst could be on the cards.
Up the Palace
The 1905 