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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Palace

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As I sat outside the Workshop quaffing my pre match Peroni this lunchtime I was pondering the long term consequences of the first game result. We had the Colchester debacle only six years ago yet we ended up winning the League. The a fair while back in the 1980''s we hammered Stoke 5-1 on opening day but were eventually relegated. Even further back if my memory banks serve ( the mid fifties I believe) I recall beating today''s opponents 1-0 with a Johnny Gavin goal, yet we finished stone last in Division Three South  that season and had to apply for re-election to the Football League. So in essence it doesn''t seem to signal very much.It was shirtsleeve weather at CR this afternoon as City began facing the River End and it was certainly an all action opening. with Murray diving and trying to win a penalty in our box while at the other end Grabban toed just wide after good close control and passing from Wes and Johnny Howson. The same combination should have produced an opener after ten minutes but somehow Grabban contrived to divert Howson''s low cross wide of the far post from almost point blank range.Palace seemed content to soak up pressure as City dominated possession and territory with the lively Hoolahan catching the eye. It was no nonsense stuff from the Palace defence and City players were dumped unceremoniously at any hint of an opening being worked. The Ref Mr Hooper was making a rod for his own back by letting so much go that when a Palace player tumbled theatrically there were roars of disapproval when he booked Alex Tetty.There were the odd flashes from Zaha and Puncheon but nothing remotely dangerous until the 38th minute when both City fullbacks were committed too far forward. Puncheon had acres of space down the right and when his looping cross came in there was Zaha totally unmarked to net at the far post. It got a bit ragged for a few minutes and Ruddy had to make a smart save to foil Murray but to their credit City kept going forward but only had a Johnson header, wide, and a Brady shot easily collected by McCarthy, to show for it.We needed a bright start to the second half but it was Palace that quickly came forward and earned a corner. There seemed no danger when the kick was over hit but Soares was allowed free reign to head it back into the danger zone and Delaney was completely unmarked when he swept it into the net from a narrow angle. City should have chalked that one off straight from the restart as Grabbans shot was deflected to Johnson only six yards out only for the keeper to somehow claw away the City mans diving header.By now I think we were all getting the feeling that it was one of those days when it is just not meant to be but Alex Neil quickly shuffled the pack and brought Jerome and Redmond on for Tetty and Grabban. City continued to dominate but Palace defended strongly and were beginning to look dangerous on the break. It needed a spark and with twenty minutes left Redmond finally provided it when he found space almost thirty yards out and sent a low drive skipping into the far corner.It was all City now and you could almost smell an equaliser coming. We all thought we''d got it when Jerome''s overhead kick whistled past McCarthy after sustained City pressure. Unbelievably, and for no apparent reason that I could see, Mr Hooper disallowed it for a high foot. If that is a foul then I wonder why any over head kick is not similarly penalised. It was a right sickener for City as Palace having ridden their luck just set about shoring things up by taking off the tiring Zaha and bringing on a defender.With about ten minutes left Murray was finally substituted after what must have been some sort of record for number of fouls and simulated diving without getting a yellow card. Dorrans was subbed for Hoop''s in a last gasp gamble but when Jerome and Seb were both taken out in the box before an inviting cross came over and Mr Hooper again feigned to see an infringement it was obvious that we would get nothing today. All that remained was a bit of Palace keep ball outside our area  that ended with Cabaye beating the offside trap and netting a third round off a dismal day for City.We all knew it was going to be hard but lets be honest. Mr Hooper couldn''t have been more help to Palace if he had been wearing a blue and red shirt.I know you shouldn''t blame the ref and Palace played their game plan well but this really was one of the most one eyed performances I''ve seen in a long time.

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Thanks for the report, as always, Ricardo!

Disallowing Jerome''s ''goal'' was a real sickener ~ a totally ridiculous decision. Are you sure Mr Hooper wasn''t wearing a blue and red shirt? ; )

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I''d love the referee to come out and explain why it was disallowed. Surely if that was a foul any overhead kick ever would also be a foul?

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Many thanks as per Ricardo.

Listening to 5live on the way home (from a family get together) the disallowed goak was the talking point of the afternoon. Every commentator was incredulous. Even Pardew, who thought they were lucky to be in the game after the first 10 minutes. Others mentioned the stone cold penalty at the end.

Ah well, c''est la fussball I suppose. Bugger it.

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[quote user="The Voice Of Reason"]thanks Ricardo, sadly Delaney was marked by our number 5, the same player who failed to stop puncheons cross. Ruddy did explain this at full volume for him.[/quote]I thought Ruddy was rather too easily beaten for the second which was at quite a narrow angle. He made a couple of decent saves but even for the first goal he seemed to be badly positioned.

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The ball was moving quite fast and was fairly close to him when struck, I was watching on tv with replays (plastic me) and it would''ve been a rather good reaction save from what I remember.

Grabban not prolific enough for this league unfortunately, should have played Jerome from start.

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''''I thought Ruddy was rather too easily beaten for the second which was at quite a narrow angle. He made a couple of decent saves but even for the first goal he seemed to be badly positioned.''''

Ruddy out of position for the first because he had just been perched at his near post waiting for the cross.

Similar situation for the second, the back post header skipped diagonally to the near, he needed to readjust before the shot was fired in but all happened too fast unfortunately.

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A couple of comments on Ricardo''s excellent report.

Re: the disallowed goal, I would think that an overhead kick is perfectly allowable unless there are heads in the vicinity of the kick. I was not near enough to see which was the case.

As for the second Palace goal, I did not see it as an overhit corner. The Palace player was halfway through a 40yard untracked run before the corner was struck and I would say it was a deliberate routine which had been practised.

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We just never seem switched on as a defensive unit, every game we tend to give something to our visitors.

We might have had more success by playing R Bennett instead of Johnson, alongside Martin & Bassong allowing both Whitts & Bradey to push on more and Howson a more central role.

Excellent report as normal, just so dissapointing, yes poor ref, but poor defending and poor finishing cost us the game.

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Much of today''s press saying Norwich weren''t much good vs palace the premier league mainstays, though I wasn''t that impressed by them, and their own supporters on the train yesterday said they thought was worst they''ve played in a long time.

I guess it is that simple - Martin not good enough for us to be solid for 90 minutes, and up front with Grabban you have to put one out of two chances away, which is no good for Grabban since he needs three or four per game.

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[quote user="Kings Man"]Much of today''s press saying Norwich weren''t much good vs palace the premier league mainstays[/quote]Yes, largely nonsense, it makes you wonder if they even attend the games.

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[quote user="Dubai Mark"]Thanks as usual for report Ricardo, I think we watched the same match.

We was robbed ![/quote]I know people will say its sour grapes but even the neutrals agree that we were blatantly done over yesterday. Palace defended well and their game plan worked but they were very fortunate with the decisions and 1-3 was not a true reflection of the game.They say things even out over a season so we must be due a similar result in our favour somewhere down the line.

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