da blaze casino： After a disappointing first half at Selhurst Park on Saturday, Crystal Palace were able to come away with a point from their match against Arsenal.
da dobrowin： Before the break, they were second-best to Mikel Arteta’s side. The stats say it all – the Eagles managed just one shot on target and could only amass 33% possession. However, they only went into the interval 1-0 down, and that gave them enough hope to level things up.
Did he really play for us?! No Palace fan has managed to name all of these obscure Eagles signings….
Jordan Ayew did just that, and in the end they may have even felt that they could have picked up all three points following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s red card for dangerous play.
The point was built on those foundations from the first-half, during which the Eagles made it difficult for their opponents to make good use of their superiority. James McCarthy was the main symbol of that fighting display during the first 45 minutes.
Throughout the match, he made a huge nine tackles. That was more than double what any other player from either side could manage. On top of that, he won 10 of the 17 ground duels he contested, as well as two out of three in the air – and this combative performance echoed an equally impressive display against Norwich City last time out in the Premier League.
In the last few days, there have been reports that the Eagles are willing to listen to offers for the 41-time Republic of Ireland international. The 29-year-old has made just five starts so far this campaign, showing that he has not been a prominent fixture in Roy Hodgson’s plans.
There is currently a lack of goals in Palace’s midfield. Luka Milivojevic is the only central player who contributes, and that is only because he takes penalties and free-kicks – only two of his 26 strikes for the club have not been from one of those two situations.
With McCarthy having failed to score in his 19 matches for Palace so far, that may be a reason why they want to move him on – not necessarily because he has been poor, but the midfield as a whole is lacking attacking threat and, as the last one in, he is one of the top candidates to be the first one out.
This is why the club must look to sign a goalscoring midfielder during this transfer window. This would allow McCarthy to do what he does best – break up the opposition’s play without concentrating on going forward. It will make him look an awful lot better, and could also give his team an extra edge.
With performances like his against the Gunners, they must be patient and look to compliment him rather than throwing the Irishman on the scrapheap.
Elsewhere, Palace fans react as it emerges one man is set to depart this month.