Crystal Palace 3 City 2
I was one of the many City supporters who were devastated when Nigel Pearson was allowed to leave the club. I was in South Africa at the time and received the news the day after England were dumped out of the World Cup after a series of appalling performances during the tournament. A weekend to forget!
However, we move on and we have a new manager in Paulo Sousa. I was initially disappointed as Swansea scored the fewest goals in the division last season, but I liked the way he was asking the team to play. He also appealed for patience from the fans and the first game of the new season reinforced this view. I had no idea what to expect but – in common with all City fans I expect – was quietly confident that we would make a good start. I even flirted with the idea that we would win by three or four goals and would be sitting at the top of the table, never to relinquish our hold on the title!
Oh dear, it didn’t take long for that bubble to burst. The first half was a nightmare and City were awful. I have never seen the defence so leaky and it wasn’t as if the back four were strangers to each other. The normally reliable Morrison had a nightmare for the first goal when the ball bounced over his head and the Palace player scored with a screamer. The defence was equally culpable for the second goal, although it took a deflection, but the third owed a bit to luck; Weale saved the initial shot but there was a Palace player handily placed to score from the rebound…..
City had their chances in the first half and Fryatt in particular missed a sitter. He seemed off the pace for much of the game and it was no surprise when he was substituted fairly early in the second half. The other player who failed to perform in my opinion was N’Guessen and he too was replaced.
Full credit for City for trying to play a passing game and they appeared physically fit enough, but they just didn’t turn up before half time. However, there was an amazing transformation in the second half and one wonders what Sousa said to them!
Robbie Neilson played better than he did for much of last season and his cross led to City’s first goal, a sweet header from Andy King. Howard came on for Fryatt and got involved quickly, although as ever suffering from some bizarre refereeing decisions. It was his unselfish pass that gave D J Campbell a fairly easy target and he didn’t disappoint.
There were five minutes left and City could well have scored an equaliser, but time ran out for them. I only remember Weale having one save to make in the second half, whether this was because City were defending better or because Palace took their foot off the gas is not clear. After all, they do say the best form of defence is attack.
I was sorry that many of the fans around me were getting on the players’ backs, which can’t help their confidence and all credit to them for buckling down and making a game of it. At least all the goals were at the end where we were sitting! It was a fast and furious game but there were no yellow cards, which is unusual these days. The linesman nearest to us made some poor decisions, often failing to keep up with the play.
Many of the fans thought at least one of the Palace goals was offside, but I wasn’t so sure, but he allowed Fryatt to continue when he was about a yard offside. It was interesting that the other linesman flagged City offside several times in the first half and then did the same to Palace in the second.
So a disappointing start but there is a long way to go. After all, don’t forget that Norwich lost their first game (at home) 7-1 last season but still took the Division 1 title.
City: Weale, Neilson, Hobbs, Morrison, Berner, King, Oakley (c), N'Guessan (Wellens, 60), Dyer, Fryatt (Howard, 61), Campbell . Subs (not used) Logan, Parkes, Moore, Kennedy, John
Palace: Speroni, Clyne, Davis, McCarthy, Ambrose, Lee (Andrew, 63), Garvan, Dorman, Cadogan (N'Diaye, 63), Zaha (Dijlali, 77), Bennett. Subs (not used): Barrett, Price, Holland, Holness
Attendance: 17,486
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation