West Bromwich Albion 2 - Crystal Palace 2

Brendan Clegg:

The game was every bit as tough as I thought it would be but after a woeful first half I thought we deserved the point at least and the stats would back that up.

Palace have a very effective balance about them; Hangeland is very solid and experienced, Jelinak is very underrated and strong in the centre and the pace, trickery, movement and workrate of Bolasie, Campbell, Zaha, Puncheon (and to a lesser extent Chamak) is a threat to anyone and probably as strong as anything outside the top four or five sides.

With their forward line they're able to drop deep and get behind the ball in numbers and then break quickly and effectively with real threat.

And in the first half that's where we got it really wrong. They let Lescott and Dawson have the ball (both of them aren't great at that) and then smothered the threat and supply to Sess and we couldn't cope.

Berahino was marshalled very well by Hangeland and we fell for all the classic mistakes of a side allowed the ball in front of 10 men.

Our passing was sloppy, we had no patience and tried to force things rather than intelligently working openings, Brunt and Dorrans came criminally narrow far too often. Individually and collectively we were a shambles. Too often we were trying one-touch flicks in tight areas when we were out-numbered at times when we needed to hold the ball and work it in between the lines.

The first goal was a set play where we bravely left 3 men up! Doubt we'll do that again.

The second goal came from Dawson aimlessly heading a ball when he head 10 seconds to bring it down, followed 5 seconds later by chesting a ball trying to atone for his earlier error he should've just cleared and getting caught in no mans land. Poc gave chase but had no chance.

It was pretty obvious AI would have to change it and in fairness he should take credit. I've heard and seen a few mumurs since about getting the formation wrong - apart from Foster he'd have been booed from the first whistle had he changed the team that played so well against united.

His change did the job - Anichibe wasn't brilliant by any stretch but the goal with his first touch helped his confidence and he went on to give possibly his most mobile performance for us ever.

We dominated and apart from a few hairy moments on the break deserved our equaliser and on another day may even have snuck an unlikely win.

Had we won today I'd have said it's the kind of result that means we wont struggle. A loss would mean you're always looking over you shoulder and in for a battle.

A draw leaves us somewhere in between - although I think we'd have lost this game last season part of me is concerned that we've not go the points tally our performances have warranted and home matches of this are so vital. I just hope we're not regretting these dropped points at the end of the season with our run-in.

• Fozzy - 6 Not a great deal to do and no chance with the goals.
• Wisdom - 6 had the below par game that was on the cards but given little easy pass options in front of him. Got better.
• Dawson - 6 Quite a few errors on the ball today - doesn't look comfortable when the onus is on us to play.
• Lescott - 7 Steady performance again and a couple of good interceptions.
• Poc - 6 Got through some great running (basically does all Brunt's work for him) but a tough afternoon defensively.
• Mozza - 5 I cant fault his running and effort but the quality and aforementioned patience wasn't there today.
• Gardner - 7 Pick of the midfield, kept going and strong in the tackle although was also guilt of giving the ball away cheaply through over ambitious passes.
• Dozza - 5 Antithesis of his Utd performance. Came into centre of midfield too often leaving Wisdom with no out ball and far too often was trying flicks when we just needed to hold it and build.
• Sess - 5 Same as Dozza, they swarmed him as soon as the ball went near him and he didn't show the intelligence or work rate to make space.
• Brunt - 5 Poor game, seemed to spend most of it watching Pocognoli gallop ahead of him and didn't double up well defensively.
• Berahino - 6 Tough game with no real space to work in and also missed a couple of half chances.

• Big Vic - 7 Took his goal well and showed promise. He needs to keep showing the same effort. His apparent fragility for a big man is frustrating though. Stops playing to hold his leg/ankle/foot/groin too often.
• Blanco - 6 Neat and tidy but yet to see enough of him to know what he brings to the team.

oshawabaggie:

A game of 2 halves. We were ponderous and negative in the first and much more lively (desperate) in the second. We had no clue how to open up their blanket defense in the first, especially as 3 out of 4 passes went backwards, but a more direct approach (get it forward to Anichebe and pick up the knock downs) in the second paid off. Dawson was very lucky not to give away a penalty in the first half on a clear trip and then he got away with a flying elbow to their goalie on our first goal, but perhaps that just evened up some of the calls that had gone against us.

I suppose we should be grateful for the point, which our spirited recovery in the second warranted. Irvine made the right move at half time and Anichebe returned the compliment by having what was one of his best performances. However, I thought Gardner was our MOM. He had two great shots that might have scored on another day, and worked his arse off throughout. Many would say Lescott was the signing of the off season, but Gardner must be a candidate too. And to think we might have traded away Dawson, Dorrans and Berahino in the last 12 months - three outstanding performers so far this year. Management has rightly taken some stick over the last year or so, but they deserve some credit for hanging onto our most promising players.

Not our greatest performance today, but the second half fightback leaves us with something to feel good about. Let's get serious about Bournemouth please.

Mark Koppel:

• Foster - 6 Nice to have him back as I think he gives the defence more confidence.Quiet game really overall though.
• Wisdom - 4 Exposed again as not really being a full back.Played too narrow again and never blocked one cross in the whole game. Lets have Gamboa here instead.
• Dawson - 7 Solid again apart from his rash challenge on Zaha . Needs to learn from this mistake as he can be a little impatient when opponents have the ball in the penalty area (remember Shane Long away at Hull last season ?).
• Lescott - 7 Back to his normal level after his poorest game so far on Monday.
• Poco - 4 Needed to stay on his feet when he gave away the penalty. Admire his strong tackling but needs to learn not to do rash challenges in the box.
• Dozza - 6 Not up to his Man Utd performance but still looking a first team regular now.
• Mozza - 7 Did a really good job in a deeper position. Great tackling back and for the equaliser.
• Gardner - 6 Quiet game apart from 2 really great shots. Unlucky not to score at least once.
• Brunt - 5 Tries, and got better second half, but still cannot shoot nowadays.
• Sess - 3 Really weak, lost possession several times under pressure. Not the same player with back to goal. Irvine did well to take him off.
• Berahino - 7 A quiet game until Big Vic came on. Then he started to look the part again. Great shot led to first goal, and cool pen once more.

Subs:

• Big Vic- 8 MOM. I do have a soft spot for this lad. I know he is not a prolific scorer but once again made all the difference coming off the bench. We would have lost this game 2-0 if it wasn't for him.
• The Ref- Clatenburg did get a few things wrong but remember this was only proven after several, several TV replays. On balance we probably shaded his decisions.