He was a lucky boy lunging in for that tackle in the penalty box on Zaha while already on a booking... Richie can't even do the basics, and looks to have lost a yard or two of pace since joining us. Cathcart was very good. Kabasele next to him was decent and unsurprisingly we looked more solid with them than Prodl and Mapps. They didn't get tested in the air though, and I'd still want a more aerially dominant CB to play next to Cathcart. Deeney somehow manages to make it through to the end of the match yet again. Capoue good. Pereyra and Hughes good as well - shame both had to go off. Doucoure playing as if he would rather stay here than move to a top six team. New left back as well please, but we already knew that.
That Zaha "penalty". The commentators have all said it was the wrong decision. First it was a clear knee from Capoue and then a clear foot from Hughes - it still looked like a dive to me from the replays...
We were alright. Toothless as always though. Okaka ran out of gas on exactly 64mins. He's a joke, how the hell can a professional footballer not last 90 mins of football? Looking forward to the summer
Holebas needs to be permanently taken off of set piece duties. Awful all game. He avoided his normal trick of hitting the first defender with his corners by consistently massively over hitting them. And his couple of freekicks, from really promising positions, presented no danger at all. Abysmal service.
Watford vs Crystal Palace Highlights https://sportyhl.com/video-watford-vs-crystal-palace-highlights/
Well there’s a reason we wear yellow and it’s the amount of cards in that game. Eight. Quite entertaining game against our bogey side who we can never seem to beat. Cathcart my MotM and I think subbing Hughes was a mistake. Played some nice football first half and should of lead at the break but then I remembered our strikers. Kudos to Garcia for keeping two up front and can we please keep this? Thought Holebas was lucky to stay on the pitch after he booted their guy in the throat all be it accidentally. Second half we faded and they came at us which was expected. Sone fortune defending but it was nice to not concede a late winner for once. Think overall a draw was fair and I think both sets of fans will be pleased with that after a heated affair with both sides going for it. Never a penalty in a month of Sunday’s either from where I was. Moves us nine clear now, still need a win though possibly against Newcastle as I can’t see us getting anything at Spuds. Hopefully the clean sheet can boost confidence to the back three/four.
Hughes going off was the right call. Would have been little point throwing Gray on if Deeney wasn't up there as well. It also meant they were wary about committing too many forward
Decent performance today especially as I was convinced we were gonna lose this. First half we were dominated, pressed brilliantly and had the chances to be a couple of goals up . Second half we faded but though the substitutions helped give us a bit more impetus as pals e looked to be getting on top . Defence held firm which was the biggest surprise. Thought the players gave everything today so so much for being on the beach and the atmosphere was great , the best it’s been for a while . Two up top worked really well and as usyal Deeney far more effective with a partner though not sure it would work so well against other teams ( eg spurs ) As has been said many times though, we really need a goal poacher as we just don’t look like we’re gonna score many .
The ball hit their bloke in the throat. It was a standard block by the defender. Definitely need to look at your angles!
I was impressed tbh. Great atmosphere from our fans. Loudest I've seen it in a while, the egg&chip army were cack. Kabasele and cathcart were fantastic. I don't think anyone had a bad game, in fact. Pererya had Ward on toast. They would be nothing without Zaha, literally everything goes through him. He was his usual diving self and should have been booked twice for this (at least the ref finally showed some back-bone when he booked him second half. They were very cynical and we lacked a bit of confidence in front of goal. Unlucky not to win imo, but relieved we didn't lose. Players attitude looked spot on. I don't think anyone can question whether they put the effort in for Gracia.
Well I'm calm enough to come in from the cold and post here again, decent performance, and no ****y goals conceded. Was more than I was expecting going into the game tbf. More than anything I just wish I could wake up in a time machine and get to June without Southampton/Stoke going on a mad one, build in the summer where we'll go the whole window without strengthening where we need
We drew against our bogey team and confirmed prem status on the back of awful performances So at least we’ve got that going for us
Richarlison's value must go down with every abject performance, I'm starting to think he just isn't very good.
Enjoyable game, shame Okaka, Hughes and Pereyra went off, they were our most creative threat and it all went a bit meh afterwards Deeney huffed and puffed and did his usual sweet f*** all once the above 3 went off Cathcart and Kabasele are our best CB pair by a country mile... but then we knew that already On the back of this game Doucoure and Richarlison won't be worth £40 let alone £40M Capoue had his best game for a long time Thought the grinning idiot as usual got his substitutions and formations all wrong 2nd half, but at least no damage was done
TBF he was very, very mobile during the first half and looked like everything he was promised to be. I had hopes that Gray's appearance would lead to something and that Richarlison's appearance would be a real game-changer.
He's the Brazilian Ighalo. Much better with 2 up top, thought it was the correct decision not to start Gray too. Looked very good first half, off the pace second. Ref crap both ways. Palace unlucky not to score 2. ***** game.
Can't fault the effort. Shame we have the attacking threat of a snail. Could have played 10 gamesworth without a goal.
Agreed on all points other than unlucky not to win. We hit the bar but otherwise didn’t threaten their goal. Was the same the other way. I’ve said too much in the build up to this game about how I feel about things. Nothing has changed. But I also would scream and shout in the face of a fairly solid, if unremarkable, performance. Gracia looks much better in a suit. But his subs are still all wrong. Pereyra and Hughes had the beating of their all afternoon men and got dragged off. Javi is seeing something different from everyone else....and that’s all well and good if you are on forms but if you aren’t....
