Match Thread Crystal Palace v Everton - Preview, Match Report and MotM Poll

[Ring master]

CARLO MOTD INTERVIEW

We didn't expect to have nine points - Ancelotti

Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti expresses his surprise at his side picking up maximum points from their first three Premier League games, following a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace.

www.bbc.co.uk

ROY MOTD INTERVIEW

Handball rule killing game of football - Hodgson

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson says the penalty against his side for a handball was "completely unacceptable" and the rule is "killing the game of football" after his side lost 2-1 at home to Everton.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Shibbywiggles]

Jonathon Lieuw is a terrible sports writer. I've had my eye on his cliched nonsense since his Telegraph days. No idea how he is rated, although I imagine Oxbridge has something to do with it.

I always think a sportswriter should actually enjoy watching sport and not try and put down teams on a winning streak. Remember all the doubts on Leicester practically until it was all but wrapped up!
All the neutral fans I work with our loving watching the blues this season and it’s been a long time since I’ve said that!

 

[trueblue84]

An incredibly patronising match report in the Guardian…

'Are they going to win the Premier League this season? Are they going to win it next season, or the one after that? No, no, and a thousand times no. But for now they can survey the rest of the table from their lofty perch, and dream like kings.'

Not arsed. Its up to us to make him eat his words.

 

[maccavennie]

3 away wins on the spin (Sheffield Utd last season).

A very difficult thing to do and great to do back to back away wins to start the season off. Palace away is always one of the more trickier matches.

 

[BlueToff]

Pickford - 7 - Needed a display like that where he kept his head. Did well to deal with some tricky crosses.
Coleman - 8 - Great run and cross for the opener, defended brilliantly. My MOTM.
Mina - 7 - Won loads of headers but also made some poor choices on the ball.
Keane - 6 - Partly at fault for their goal but at the start he was very confident on the ball.
Digne - 6 - Not his best game going forward as Palace didn't allow the James-Digne diagonal, but defended really well and still pushed up.
Doucoure - 6 - Poor on the ball at times but made some big interceptions and presses late on. Wish he'd have let rip with the one he ended up passing to James late on.
Allan - 6 - Don't think it was his best game - couldn't really get on the ball like he has done so far for us, and a fair few players got past him at times, but then again he screened the defence well in the second half.
Gomes - 7 - Thought he played well defensively and kept things ticking over for us.
James - 8 - Every touch is pretty much spot on. His movement and pass for the opener was quality, his pass played it to Digne for our penalty, and could easily have had two or three assists.
DCL - 6 - Another game, another goal. His all-round game was poor, though he stepped it up last 15 and held it up really well when we needed him to.
Richarlison - 6 - He was in and out of it, had that sloppy touch when James played him through but made up for it with that penalty.

Davies - 5 - Came on and managed to give it away three times.
Sigurdsson - 6 - Helped tighten things up a bit on the ball.
Iwobi - 6 - He's so erratic when he's in possession. There was one point when all he had to do was take it in and spread it out to Coleman but instead went back inside. Bernard would have been the sub for me as he's better in possession, but think Carlo wanted Iwobi on for his physicality.

Carlo - 7 - Subs mostly right, tactics right - as we sat deep to limit them on the counter - even if the players didn't execute it 100%.

 

[stretford blue]

....no stand out MoM for me, although annoyingly I had to miss the last 20mins. My son said Doucoure actually did a good job then when we were under a bit of pressure, I think he’ll always be one that’s more important without the ball than with it.

Thought both full backs did well at both ends of the pitch, but I’m going for Digne. Valuable contribution getting the penalty but towards the end of last season the defensive aspect of his game really improved and it’s got to a point where he’s actually quite tenacious and competitive.

A few runs tonight. Thanks Toffees.

They lost there momentum when they brought on Batshuayi, benteke but a well ground out victory

 

[BlueToff]

Jonathon Lieuw is a terrible sports writer. I've had my eye on his cliched nonsense since his Telegraph days. No idea how he is rated, although I imagine Oxbridge has something to do with it.

He's an excellent writer, albeit one who knows how to wind people up.

Looks like it's worked

 

[BlueToff]

I always think a sportswriter should actually enjoy watching sport and not try and put down teams on a winning streak. Remember all the doubts on Leicester practically until it was all but wrapped up!
All the neutral fans I work with our loving watching the blues this season and it’s been a long time since I’ve said that!

I always find it that fans only really disagree/get angry with opinion pieces when those opinions reflect the ones that, deep down, are the ones held by the fanbase.

None of us believe we're winning the league, but it's nice to enjoy this. That's all he's really said.

 

[Shibbywiggles]

I always find it that fans only really disagree/get angry with opinion pieces when those opinions reflect the ones that, deep down, are the ones held by the fanbase.

None of us believe we're winning the league, but it's nice to enjoy this. That's all he's really said.

He said 1000 times no could we possibly win the league in the next 3 seasons. With the right signings and Carlo at the helm why not? I don’t think we will, I really don’t think we will, but why couldn’t we? Who thought we’d get Carlo and then James?

 

[BlueToff]

Around 10 minutes later, Lucas Digne tried to head the ball into the path of Richarlison, only for the ball to flick Ward’s hand on its way through. Play continued. Palace had an attack. Everton won the ball back. Autumn turned to winter. Joe Biden won the presidential election. Random parts of Greenland continued to melt into the Arctic Ocean. Winter turned to spring. Ward retired and grew old. Humanity itself finally incinerated and perished in the Second Great Conflagration.

At which point, Kevin Friend brought play back, studied the video screen and awarded Everton a penalty for the earlier handball. Richarlison, by now a wizened, shrivelled stack of bones and rags barely recognisable from his younger self, tucked it past Vicente Guaita into the top corner.

That's why he's a good writer.

 

[Acrobat]

If we get knocked off our perch, I hope its by Arsenal on Monday!

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

He's an excellent writer, albeit one who knows how to wind people up.

Looks like it's worked

Hi Jonathan

 

[BlueToff]

He said 1000 times no could we possibly win the league in the next 3 seasons. With the right signings and Carlo at the helm why not? I don’t think we will, I really don’t think we will, but why couldn’t we? Who thought we’d get Carlo and then James?

Nobody thinks we will, so why should he say we might?

Like someone else has said, it's up to us to prove them wrong.

It's three games, last time we won 3 in a row at the start of a season we ended up scrapping for survival on the last day!

Let them write and don't get wound up by it

 

[BlueToff]

Hi Jonathan

The bloke's a freak mate, most of them are. Winter's the worst. Just the other week at the Denmark-England game he walked into the press box and - due to social distancing - realised he'd have to sit in a normal seat without a desk. He demanded to speak to the stadium's press officer and ended up getting the seat of some junior journalist.

They're both good writers, though.

 

[Zezti]

Pickford - 7 - Needed a display like that where he kept his head. Did well to deal with some tricky crosses.
Coleman - 8 - Great run and cross for the opener, defended brilliantly. My MOTM.
Mina - 7 - Won loads of headers but also made some poor choices on the ball.
Keane - 6 - Partly at fault for their goal but at the start he was very confident on the ball.
Digne - 6 - Not his best game going forward as Palace didn't allow the James-Digne diagonal, but defended really well and still pushed up.
Doucoure - 6 - Poor on the ball at times but made some big interceptions and presses late on. Wish he'd have let rip with the one he ended up passing to James late on.
Allan - 6 - Don't think it was his best game - couldn't really get on the ball like he has done so far for us, and a fair few players got past him at times, but then again he screened the defence well in the second half.
Gomes - 7 - Thought he played well defensively and kept things ticking over for us.
James - 8 - Every touch is pretty much spot on. His movement and pass for the opener was quality, his pass played it to Digne for our penalty, and could easily have had two or three assists.
DCL - 6 - Another game, another goal. His all-round game was poor, though he stepped it up last 15 and held it up really well when we needed him to.
Richarlison - 6 - He was in and out of it, had that sloppy touch when James played him through but made up for it with that penalty.

Davies - 5 - Came on and managed to give it away three times.
Sigurdsson - 6 - Helped tighten things up a bit on the ball.
Iwobi - 6 - He's so erratic when he's in possession. There was one point when all he had to do was take it in and spread it out to Coleman but instead went back inside. Bernard would have been the sub for me as he's better in possession, but think Carlo wanted Iwobi on for his physicality.

Carlo - 7 - Subs mostly right, tactics right - as we sat deep to limit them on the counter - even if the players didn't execute it 100%.

Agree with all that.
Doucoure had some wayward passes but there was the moment in the second half where Zaha would have been through on goal but Doucs battled him all the way and won it, so I'd give him +1 for that.