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6th March Crystal Palace 1 Sheffield United 0 (Attendance: 13,455)
Bunn, Montgomery, Morgan, Nosworthy, Yeates (Evans 78), Williamson (Harper 70), Cresswell, Ward, Bartley, Quinn (Camara 58), Kallio.
Subs Not Used: Bennett, Taylor, Stewart, Seip.
Booked: Bartley 67, Williamson 68.
Man of The Match: Mark Bunn. see bottom of page.
Crystal Palace Line-up: Speroni, Clyne, Hill, Derry, Ambrose (Hills 90), Carle (Scannell 90), Andrew (N'Diaye 87), Lee, Butterfield, Ertl, Davis.
Subs Not Used: John, Lawrence, Djilali, Mann.
Booked: Derry 48, Davis 67, N'Diaye 89.
Scorer: Lee 23.
Referee: Andy Penn (West Midlands)
Sheffield United’s dismal away form continued with a 1-0 defeat at a troubled Crystal Palace.
Manager Kevin Blackwell made a couple of changes most notably Stephen Quinn returning to the side in place of Henri Camara. Jamie Ward and Richard Cresswell were the strikers in a 4-4-2 formation. In a dour opening period it was Palace who made the first chance of note when Alan Lee and Nick Carle led to the Australian getting a shooting chance from 25 yards out, but it deflected harmlessly into goalkeeper Mark Bunn's hands.
Moments later Danny Butterfield was found on the edge of the box as a Palace corner was cleared, but he smashed the ball high and wide. But he made amends on 22 minutes when his pinpoint cross from the right wing beat Kyle Bartley and dropped to Lee, who managed to get in front of Chris Morgan and poke it past Bunn from six yards out.
Palace could have extended their lead four minutes later when Nick Carle fed Calvin Andrew with a nice through ball, but the striker smashed it high and wide. The Blades threatened late on with a couple of speculative crosses, the best chance being a free-kick four minutes before the break. Mark Yeates delivered and Cresswell just failed to get an outstretched foot to the ball and goalkeeper Julián Speroni gathered from four yards out.
The second half started the same as the first with Palace clearly the better side. Darren Ambrose was played through by a Shaun Derry header and the big striker fired the ball first time from 15 yards into Bunn's arms. Palace had a great chance to extend their lead on 57 minutes. Some neat play on the flank allowed Carle to send in a dangerous cross into the six yard box which found Lee at the back post. The Eagles striker seemed surprised and shot over the crossbar. United had not had a single chance of note, both strikers were sightseers and maybe should have requested a stool each to sit on. The Palace midfield led by the imposing figure of Derry was dominant, Carle was busy and having a field day, the left-footed international was involved in everything in midfield with some nice passing movements throughout.
The one way traffic continued and Ambrose floated a ball in and it was met by Andrew at full stretch, but he jumped marginally too early and was unable to keep his header down. Blackwell threw on three players in the form of James Harper, Ched Evans and Camara, but it was Palace who continued to look a threat going forward.
With eight minutes remaining some very good close-quarter passing led to a foul 25 yards out and Ambrose smashed a dipping effort that was stopped up by Bunn. The best the Blades could muster, despite a flurry towards the end, was a screwed Camara effort from 20 yards that flew harmlessly wide of Speroni's post followed by two late Evans efforts. His first was a volley that he smashed into Camara in stoppage time, and his second was a dipping volley that bounced past the post.
But Palace held on to give Paul Hart his first win as Crystal Palace manager. United on the other hand, need to convince the fans that this was an off day by beating rock bottom Peterborough on Tuesday night. This performance was dire and no excuses can make the fans think otherwise.
Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Crystal Palace: Bunn 6, Kallio 5, Bartley 5, Morgan 6, Nosworthy 5, Montgomery 5, Yeates 6, Harper 5, Williamson 5, Quinn 5, Evans 6, Cresswell 6, Ward 6, Camara 6.
The above player performance ratings are scored out of a maximum rating of 10. A 'Man Of The Match' will still be selected even if several players have an equal highest rating.
These are the standard rules used. (see below)
10: Out of this world - Extremely rare, exceptional performances only.
9: Excellent - Top-class display, probably the matchwinner.
8: Very Good - Outstanding, very influential.
7: Good - Impressive, eye-catching.
6: Average - No major faults, nothing overly impressive.
5: Below Average - Some faults, out-of-touch.
4: Poor - Many faults, easy to criticise.
--: Players must have been playing in the match for a minimum of 10 minutes to receive a rating.
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