Crystal Palace 0 – 1 Bristol City…………. Stunning strike decides grudge match
By From my seat…
By Sean Beynon
Chris Iwelumo’s spectacular volley secured Bristol City all three points against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. This was a crucial victory for City, and an important recovery from their humiliating home defeat at the hands of Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
City and Palace have enjoyed a particularly fierce rivalry in the last couple of years. The mutual antipathy bubbled away nicely during City’s play-off season, but took on whole new dimensions last year, after Freddie Sears’ ‘goal that never was’ made headlines across the world.
The resulting furore saw both clubs making angry claims and counter-claims about each other, and the rivalry looked set in stone. The departure — west to QPR — of Palace’s controversial boss Neil Warnock may have brought the tension down a notch, but there was no doubt this was a grudge match for both sets of supporters.
The game was short on quality and, at times, turgid to watch. Chances were relatively thin on the ground, and final efforts all too often scuffed high, wide and not at all handsome. City’s grit and determination — seen in short supply lately – counted for much as they saw out the game with few alarms. It was, in essence, a perfect away performance for City, who risked being dragged well and truly into the relegation dog fight had they succumbed to the Eagles.
Iwelumo’s strike was a piece of magic that will have stirred Mick McCarthy. The Wolves manager will decide at the weekend whether to recall Iwelumo back to the Premiership. City would dearly love him to extend his stay a further month or longer, and Gary Johnson cleverly hit the airwaves to explain that Iwelumo would continue to improve so long as he got games under his belt. Even so, McCarthy may have seen enough to convince him to call his striker back.
Tuesday’s effort was certainly Premier League quality. With the game seemingly petering out into a goalless non-entity, three Palace defenders made a mess of Liam Fontaine’s speculative long throw. Iwelumo turned in a flash, and rocketed his volley from 15 yards past a helpless Julian Speroni. Speroni is considered one of the best keepers in the Championship, but even Yashin, Schmeichel and Banks lined up in a row would have struggled to stop this thunderbolt.
One piece of brilliance separated the teams, but a number of chances were squandered by both sides. For City, Louis Carey went on a surging run from the back only to skew his shot well wide. Nicky Maynard had one or two sniffs at goal without posing a serious threat, and Bradley Orr’s enthusiasm to add to his two goals at the weekend was not quite matched by his finishing ability.
Palace’s forays forward were few and far between as City bossed the game. Alan Lee should have put the Eagles ahead when he found himself free in the box from Darren Ambrose’s free kick. Lee’s header went harmlessly wide and City could breathe a sigh of relief.
Even Iwelumo was not blameless with a sight at goal. He had two decent efforts before his goal — one saved by Speroni and the other ballooning well over the bar. One touch of class would later make up for the frustrations, as the Scot notched up his second goal for City. All City fans will be hoping Mick McCarthy listens to Johnson’s advice, and lets him stay a while longer.
City’s ten-day road trip continues on Saturday with a visit to Reading, before the Robins play Plymouth next Tuesday. Two wins would probably ensure City’s survival in the League, and allow them to look up the table in the last few weeks of the season. Two defeats would make this performance, however admirable, next to meaningless, and the stretch to May potentially a very long one indeed.
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