Palace held to goalless draw by Swansea

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28 Dec 2015

By Mike Whalley BSports

Crystal Palace's push towards the Premier League's top four stalled as a much-changed Swansea side ground out a point at Selhurst Park.

Swans caretaker boss Alan Curtis saw his side secure a third clean sheet in a row to remain above the bottom three.

Palace defender Brede Hangeland's flicked header early in the second half was well saved by Lukasz Fabianski, who later denied Patrick Bamford.

Gylfi Sigurdsson almost won it for Swansea, but his free-kick was saved.

How the action unfolded at Selhurst Park
Reaction to Saturday's football

Chamakh struggles as Palace fall short

Marouane Chamakh scored the winner when Palace beat Swansea 1-0 on the final day of last season

Palace had moved to within reach of the Champions League qualification places by scoring nine goals in their four matches before Christmas.

Alan Pardew's side, though, have been held to goalless draws in each of their two festive fixtures so far.

Pardew gave Marouane Chamakh his first start of the season, with the former Arsenal striker bidding to regain full match fitness after a thigh problem.

Chamakh, though, made little impact, with Palace's best chances coming once Bamford came on as a half-time substitute.

Bamford, on loan from Chelsea, had Palace's clearest chance, but shot straight at Fabianski after James McArthur's pass had ricocheted into his path.

The biggest disappointment for Pardew, though, was a soft first-half yellow card for winger Yohan Cabaye, who will be suspended for next weekend's Premier League meeting with Chelsea.

Swansea show steel

Crystal Palace (left) were able to play further forward than Swansea, as the average position graphic of each player shows

Curtis made eight changes to the side that beat West Brom 1-0 on Boxing Day in an attempt to keep his players fresh.

His line-up included three men - centre-back Jordi Amat, midfielder Matt Grimes and forward Marvin Emnes - who had not played a single minute of Premier League football all season.

It was one of the three players who retained his place who proved the key, though, with captain Ashley Williams outstanding in central defence.

Curtis' side restricted Palace to just two shots on target, and almost snatched a second 1-0 win in three days, with home keeper Wayne Hennessey getting across well to push aside Sigurdsson's stoppage-time free-kick.

Man of the match - Ashley Williams (Swansea)

Ashley Williams inspired Swansea to a third successive clean sheet

What the managers said

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew: "I just thought it was a poor decision to book Cabaye. We've lost him for a key game. Fans pay a lot of money to see players like that, and the referee's taken him out of the game.

"A mistimed challenge is not a yellow card. It's a deliberate tackle to stop someone progressing down the pitch. Brede Hangeland escapes a booking for a far worse challenge. We want great players on the pitch. Stop handing out yellow cards."

Swansea caretaker manager Alan Curtis: "It was an excellent point against a very good Crystal Palace team. They showed today why they are where they are in the table. We're unbeaten in three with three clean sheets. That's a huge improvement on where we've been of late.

"I thought Ashley was brilliant. He's been the rock of the side for any number of seasons. Ashley epitomised the spirit of the team."

Lineup, Bookings (5) & Substitutions (6)

Crystal Palace

13 Hennessey
02 Ward
06 Dann
04 Hangeland Booked
23 Souaré Booked
15 Jedinak
18 McArthur (Mutch - 75' )
11 Zaha
07 Cabaye Booked
42 Puncheon (Lee Chung-yong - 71' )
29 Chamakh (Bamford - 45' )

Substitutes

01 Speroni
08 Bamford
09 Campbell
14 Lee Chung-yong
22 Mutch
28 Ledley
34 Kelly

Swansea City

01 Fabianski
26 Naughton
02 Amat (Bartley - 77' )
06 Williams
03 Taylor Booked
08 Shelvey (Ki Sung-yueng - 56' Booked )
24 Cork
21 Grimes
11 Emnes (Sigurdsson - 56' )
18 Gomis
58 Barrow

Substitutes

04 Ki Sung-yueng
10 Ayew
13 Nordfeldt
20 Montero
23 Sigurdsson
27 Bartley
35 Kingsley

Ref: Neil Swarbrick

Att: 23,714

Match Stats

Possession 54 46

Shots

10 5

On target

2 3

Corners

7 4

Fouls

11 16

Live Text Commentary

Full time

Full Time Match ends, Crystal Palace 0, Swansea City 0.

90:00 +4:23 Full time

Full Time Second Half ends, Crystal Palace 0, Swansea City 0.

90:00 +3:45

Offside, Crystal Palace. Brede Hangeland tries a through ball, but Mile Jedinak is caught offside.

90:00 +3:18

Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by Kyle Naughton.

90:00 +1:54

Attempt saved. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

90:00 +1:00 Booking

Booking Brede Hangeland (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

90:00 +0:56

Foul by Brede Hangeland (Crystal Palace).

90:00 +0:56

Bafétimbi Gomis (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

90:00 +0:32

Attempt saved. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Matt Grimes.