The lowdown on Crystal Palace 0 Bournemouth 0 – Eagles stop run of heavy defeats but pick up fourth red card of the season

Crystal Palace picked up their fourth red card of the season as they stopped the run of heavy defeats to draw 0-0 with European-chasing Bournemouth.

Here is the lowdown on the match:

THE LINE-UPS

Palace: Henderson, Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Mitchell, Wharton (Kamada 72), Hughes, Sarr (Devenny 90), Eze (Lerma 46), Mateta (Nketiah 72).

Subs not used: Turner, Clyne, Chilwell, Esse, Franca.

Bournemouth: Kepa, Huijsen, Kerkez, Zabamyi, Smith (Araujo 83) , Adams (Tavernier 60), Scott (Cook 45), Kluivert, Ouattara (Brooks 69), Evanilson, Semenyo. 

Subs not used: Dennis, Hill, Jebbison, Senesi, Soler.

SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME

Antoine Semenyo saw his effort in the 16th minute blocked on his route to goal by centre-back Dean Huijsen.

Palace’s first real attack of intent came in the 35th minute when Ismaila Sarr drove forward and was bundled outside of the area by Alex Scott.

The Eagles were reduced to 10 men when Chris Richards was shown a second yellow card for pulling back Bournemouth attacker Justin Kluivert on the halfway line.

The second half was a tetchy affair, with Palace looking to hit the visitors on the counter due to their red card.

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola made multiple changes in his search to make their man advantage count.

Semenyo cut onto his right foot from distance with the last kick of the game but his shot sailed high and wide over Dean Henderson’s crossbar.

TACTICAL APPROACH

Glasner lined up with the same formation that he has used throughout his time at Selhurst Park.

The Eagles made just one change from their 5-0 humbling at Newcastle, with Wharton coming in for Jefferson Lerma.

To cope with the attacking prowess of Kerkez, Palace defended in a back four when Bournemouth were trying to build up from the back and Daniel Munoz was ordered with a man-marking job on the Hungarian left wing-back.

Glanser took off Eze at half-time to sacrifice him for Lerma after Bournemouth were given a man advantage following Richards’ red.

STAR MAN

Illya Zabarnyi. Dealt with Jean-Philippe Mateta well and was a rock at the back in terms of clearances and winning aerial battles.

BEST MOMENT

Full time. Maybe I am the problem? Two games this Easter weekend and two goalless draws. 

MOAN OF THE MATCH

Why did Scott not see Red? The former Bristol City man was lucky he was not issued with a second yellow card after he brought Sarr down en route to goal.

Referee Barrott then sent Richards off for the same foul without any last warning just before half-time.

Unsurprisingly, the Cherries subbed off Scott at half-time as he was a walking red card waiting to happen.

A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB

An important week ahead. Considering Palace had conceded 10 in their last two outings, many would have taken a goalless draw against Bournemouth before the game just to stem the flow of heavy losses.

The Eagles head to the Emirates on Wednesday, with Oliver Glasner needing to make the decision whether to rotate his starting 11 ahead of their FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Austrian has not made a habit of changing the team too much during his time at Selhurst Park, but with confidence low and players looking way off the high-intensity team they were in their previous FA Cup win over Fulham, it could be a wise decision.

WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY

“We could see that we were not full of confidence in the first half. We were defending ok, but then we got a red card. You can collapse as a team, but the players did the opposite.

“We showed a great team effort and performance. We defended well.

“We tried to find the right moments to go forward. We had five dangerous situations in the Bournemouth box. I’m very pleased with the performance in the second half, with the performance and spirit.

“We have started to gain our confidence. It’s not easy to play 50 minutes in the Premier League with one player less and not conceding a goal.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD