For old times sakes- an insight for those fans who weren’t able to attend/ watch today’s match.

Hennessey 8- Personally don’t understand the criticism he receives. Every keeper has a bad game now and again (ie Cech vs Swansea). Played well today, with a top double save and a commanding performance from crosses. Handled shots well and distributed well when called upon.

TFM 6 - Always looks a threat going forwards, but seems to get into good positions and then run out of ideas.
Will be a great defender in 3,4 years time, but a couple of times caught out positionally from crosses today. His pace got him out of trouble a couple of times.

Tomkins 7- Improves every game, cleared his lines when necessary and played from the back when appropriate. A few air kicks early on, but nullified the threat of Gayle and Perez.

Kelly 6- Welcome to the 100 club. Won everything in the air, but , alongside Luka, lost Diame from the corner which lead to the goal. Unfortunate to go off, as he probably realised that Sakho and Tomkins will now be starters until an inevitable injury.

PVA 8.5 MOM (along with the pitch invader)- seems revolutionised. Energy going forwards and , unlike the West Ham game, also defended well against Kenedy and Ritchie. Played Benteke in early and overlapped where he could. Best game of the season for him and , on this form, would keep schlupp out the side.

Luka 7- Squeezed in his penalty, won his aerial duels and broke up play effectively- seems to have achieved Jedinak cult hero status.
Switched off for the Newcastle goal, but was the defensive shield in the second half which allowed zaha and co to push on. Diame, physically, is probably one of the sternest tests he’ll face in the CM this year.

McArthur 7.5- Again after a slow start grew into the game and interlinked defence and attack. After starting on the left wing, he looked more at ease in the second half and almost scored from a great team move in the 75th. Didn’t give Hayden or Shelvey any spare time to play in the second half and was subsequently the catalyst for numerous attacks.

Cabaye 6.5 - Started brightly and retained the ball. Almost finished off a great team move in the first half and supplied Benteke with ball to feet. Fatigued as the game wore on, but couldn’t be criticised against his former club.

Townsend 6.5- Provides much better defensive cover then Sako, puts the ball in the box effectively but sometimes today just not direct enough when in possession. When he was at Newcastle, was never scared to have a shot- today he beat his man a few times and then would play backwards.

Zaha 6.5- similar to Townsend, although must be said ATs delivery and decision making was better today. Quiet first half when through the middle, but got the better of Yedlin a few times in the second half. Put in a great ball for Benteke which led to the almighty scramble at the end. Stands out, but for his own exceptional standards a slightly quieter game.

Benteke 6- Difficult one. His general hold up play was good and he won his fair share of headers against Lascelles and Clark. However, he’s on the pitch to score goals.
Missed an early one on one after being put through by PVA, missed a sitter at the end of the first half when pretty much in the goal and generally looked nervy when he had the ball at his feet.

Sakho 7- instantly reminded everyone what we’d been missing (although Kelly has excelled). Despite palace dominating the second half in general, he is calming presence who builds from the back and equals our strongest CB pairing with Tomkins.

Hodgson 7- Couldn’t do much more with his resources, continues to get the best out of a strong first XI with limited depth. The sooner Sørloth is match fit the better in order to provide a plan B.

Marriner 5- Every 50:50 went Newcastle’s way in the first half. Only scoring as high as a 5 for his team of officials spotting the penalty decision which,at the time, confused the whole stadium. Missed another penalty appeal and constantly penalised Benteke for what looked like just standing his ground.

Ultimately, 2 points dropped although Atsu’s 93rd minute effort could have crept in to make it 3 dropped points. Another point closer to 40- but games like these and West Ham need to be identified as must wins when you look at our March fixtures- especially considering ,again, how much we dominated the general balance of play.

Edited by osborny99 (04 Feb 2018 8.49pm)

heh... just calling it as i see it. We got a ridiculous penalty today, if that had gone the other way people would be calling blue murder on here. Other than that didnt really trouble their keeper. Our front three was poor, we let in a very very soft goal and looked dodgy at the back.

heh... just calling it as i see it. We got a ridiculous penalty today, if that had gone the other way people would be calling blue murder on here. Other than that didnt really trouble their keeper. Our front three was poor, we let in a very very soft goal and looked dodgy at the back.

Needs to play on the wing again. Do not need him up front anymore. Sorloth and bentekes job

heh... just calling it as i see it. We got a ridiculous penalty today, if that had gone the other way people would be calling blue murder on here. Other than that didnt really trouble their keeper. Our front three was poor, we let in a very very soft goal and looked dodgy at the back.