Was it a red card? Who knows, fans are still divided. However, it would not have changed the course of the game. The signs were ominous for Bournemouth, from the opening whistle, who fell embarrassingly to 10-man Crystal Palace.
Mamadou Sakho raised his foot to contest a loose, 50-50 ball – showing his studs to Bournemouth right-back Adam Smith – and this was adjudged as reckless and endangering to his opponent and he was subsequently shown a straight red.
The incident occurred just 19 minutes into the game and with Sakho evicted, it meant Palace had to protect their lines with 10-men for 71 minutes. Assumingly, the home side were forced to sit back and defend. They lived to thwart any Bournemouth attack for the remainder of the match; which they did, with every player on the pitch contributing admirably.
Not long after the red card, Roy Hodgson watched on as his only fit and recognised left-back succumbed to a hamstring injury just 10 minutes later. Eventual match-winner, Jeffrey Schlupp, was Patrick van Aanholt’s replacement and was asked to assume his position at left-back, one that was made so familiar to him in his title-winning season with Leicester City.
Frustrated, Eddie Howe flounced towards the dressing rooms, gesturing and debating with his assistant at half-time with the score remaining 0-0.
After the break, it was Palace who made a change with Andros Townsend being omitted for James McCarthy to add some defensive solidarity to a flank that is already lacking a true right-back.
Following a first-half where Bournemouth were sloppy in possession, void of creativity and weak in midfield, it was important the visitors came out with a renewed outlook in the second half.
There was no substantial tactical alteration, but the Cherries looked more coherent and assured in the second-half, yet they still struggled to break down a brilliantly disciplined Palace team. Last season’s runner up in the Premier League playmaker award, Ryan Fraser, was brought on from the bench for the fourth time this season but, not even he was able to manoeuvre the football through the well-organised Palace walls.
Bournemouth tried and tried again, failing each time and were buoyant in dismay when part-time left-back, Schlupp, waltzed straight through their trenches. Schlupp took the ball from just inside Bournemouth’s defensive half and scored from almost the exact same situation as he did in the previous gameweek against Burnley – from just inside the left corner of the box, pinpointing the ball across the keeper.
It ended 1-0 to the hosts and not many would say it wasn’t a thoroughly deserved victory, however unpleasant the viewing was for neutrals and Bournemouth fans alike.
Mama-dou Sakho abandons his chicks for another three games
Roy Hodgson stated he thought Sakho was simply a “victim – if you like – of the new interpretation of the law” and this might just be the case. Nonetheless, it means the Frenchman is now out for the next three games, leaving Palace short yet another centre-back.
This is a debilitating blow for the club in a tense period of the season that no doubt would have seen the starting XI being rotated heavily to support the ageing legs of the club’s centre back options. Scott Dann and Gary Cahill missed the game against Bournemouth, but Hodgson said post-match that they haven’t been ruled out entirely for this weekend’s game against Watford.
However unlikely it may be, it may still be possible for either one of Dann or Cahill to line up alongside Tomkins in game week 16. Cahill would be the most likely, as Dann’s ankle is “still too swollen for a scan” according to Hodgson, while the former will get the opportunity to “test it out” on Thursday – which is when his availability for this weekend’s game will be decided.
If you can’t create, you don’t score
This is a rudimentary fact in regard to any sport – if you don’t create opportunities, you won’t go anywhere but down. Bournemouth were faulty in possession and erratic going forward in the opening 20 minutes – much like their display against Spurs on the weekend (albeit, for the opening 70 minutes of that game).
However, once a red card is shown to your opposition’s veteran centre-back, then your foot must be on the pedal. You must push to stretch your disadvantaged opponent before they have the chance to recoup at half-time. Bournemouth, on the contrary, showed none of this vigour and they were edgeless and empty in the final third.
Their passes couldn’t find their targets and the Palace players pounced. If it was not for their deficit in number, one might have feared for the scoreline.
The Cherries created just five chances after Sakho’s red card just before 20 minutes – only one more than their opponent who now had two midfielders in defence and a centre-back at right-back. If that wasn’t bad enough, another statistic that will worry Eddie Howe is the fact that they failed to create a single ‘big chance’ (a shooting opportunity in which the attacker is expected to score, given the circumstances).
They enjoyed (so to speak) 80% of the possession in the second half and only managed to produce three shots on target. It’s not a word that is often used in football, but their display was embarrassing.
Palace’s makeshift defence may be around to stay
After Aaron Wan-Bissaka was allowed to flee the nest, the Eagles had £50 million to work with yet could not acquire a single defensive target, despite being linked with many. Investments such as the proposal to upgrade the academy and enhance the stadium – that have come to fruition in recent months – were deemed a more immediate necessity than squad depth.
Of course, these investments that will help to maintain the long term Premier League status of the club are a priority, as long as top-flight status is maintained. Such as the proposal to upgrade the academy and enhance the stadium that have come to fruition in recent months.
This meant Hodgson entered the season with only one full time right-back (Joel Ward) and left-back (Patrick van Aanholt) who have both performed admirably – the former more so.
Hodgson has made his frustration at this fact obvious and the club aims to solve his woes with full-back additions in the January transfer window. Unfortunately, for the time being, this is no consolation for Hodgson who now has to conjure a back four without his only two full-backs.
Even the academy is lacking in the full-back positions. Tyrick Mitchell, a left-back who impressed in pre-season with ghastly similar qualities to the aforementioned Wan-Bissaka, only returned to the under-23’s side on the weekend just gone by. Featuring off the bench in the last 20 minutes of the respective game, Mitchell came through unscathed. If he was to be thrust into the Premier League immediately this weekend it would not only be a case of ‘from the frying pan and into the fire’ but unwise for his health.
Sam Woods is another option who can fill in somewhere along the back four, quite similarly to defensive utility option, Martin Kelly, who contributed substantially at right-back on the weekend. James Tomkins and the aforementioned Kelly are the only two first team defenders fit enough, as it stands, for Saturday’s game. Cheikou Kouyaté’s cameo at centre-back, following Sakho’s dismissal in the 19th minute, was beyond incredible, but was it merely a case of beginner’s luck?
What’s happened to Dom?
At 22 years old, Solanke’s career – as long as he remains dedicated in training – can still flourish to what it once promised to be as a product of the Chelsea academy.
It was the summer transfer window of 2018 in which Solanke was considered as a target by multiple clubs, including these two gameweek 15 foes. For £19 million, Bournemouth thought they had acquired a striker ready to develop a formidable partnership with Callum Wilson upfront. Instead of this, their third most costly signing has gone goalless in 1155 minutes for the club from a mere 20 shots in all competitions. As a striker, this is well below par.
Credit must be given where it is due: he runs hard. Although, it is most certain Bournemouth didn’t splash the cash for a player who ‘tries hard’ – there are plenty of them to go around. His goalscoring form must improve, or he risks being demoted to the substitutes bench and then, quickly, into irrelevancy.
Unrivalled grit can win you games alone
On that note of ‘trying hard’, it seems like Palace won this game almost purely based on the fact that they tried harder than their opponents and were more successful at it.
As Sakho trudged off the field in disbelief of his dismissal, no doubt Palace fans’ shoulders would have dropped. They had just faced five of the ‘big six’ plus Leicester (who may make it a ‘big seven’ very quickly) and their fixture list has now opened up. They, also, entered this game on a high for the first time in a long time, on the back of a convincing 0-2 victory away to Burnley.
The 10 Palace players left on the pitch had vastly different ideas. 70 minutes of bruises, knocks and body on-the-line defending sealed the victory.
Zaha – an incredulous dribbler – was often seen at his defensive corner flag, corralling his opponent. Luka Milivojevic and James McArthur may have needed to sleep in an ice bath following the match, such was their vigour and ferocity in defence in the absence of their midfield partner, Kouyaté – who filled in at centre-back.
And Jordan Ayew? Mention his name to any Palace-associated person and you might be in for a long night. Such should be the volume of his praises following, not only this match, but his season thus far.
For the next seven fixtures, Palace embark on a month-long journey that lacks a superior opponent, as the Premier League table stands at the end of game week 15.
Up Next
The upcoming fixtures for these two respective clubs are perfectly bipolar. Palace travel far down the ladder to bottom-placed and manager-less, Watford. While Bournemouth aim to do something they have done just once in their history as they take on a Liverpool side approaching unprecedented levels of history-breaking.
