Into the channels: 29/11/2014

Crystal Palace 1 - 1 Swansea City

Last week, Palace went behind to Liverpool after 2 minutes before turning it around and winning 3-1. Swansea had gone ahead in their fixture, and ended up losing.

Could both teams throw away the lead this week? That would be exciting.

Jefferson Montero is happy to be shown the left-hand path

Fans of 2030s Facebook group 'Obscure 2010s football players' will, in time, develop a soft spot for Joel Ward. They will bemoan his frequent deployment at left-back by Warnock, ponder whether he could actually have been any good in centre-midfield under Pulis, and smile freakishly when recalling one of the times he actually played in his given position.

Except they will try and gloss over the start of this afternoon's game, when he and the gangly, gormless, briefly-an-England-international Martin Kelly were switched around. This provided Ward with a chance to actually play in his 'proper position', and duly get roasted by Ecuadorian left-winger Jefferson Montero. Kelly, too, took a bit of a beating from Palace academy graduate Wayne Routledge.

A Routledge cross could have led to an early Bony goal, but Sigurdsson interrupted the cross

For some reason, the football commentators I've heard this season are keen on talking about Wilfried Bony having scored more goals than any other player in this calendar year. He has 18 in 2014, which if you translate it into a goals-to-game ratio, isn't really that impressive. Mile Jedinak, however, has 5 in 8.

Bony makes it 19

The linesman tried hard to ignore Bony's celebratory dance

Neil Warnock and his Low Cost Vans were dismayed by Palace's poor start

Things looked to be getting worse for the Eagles when Dwight Gayle came off injured

Gayle was replaced in attack by James McArthur...

Palace's woeful start to the game - Ward and Kelly harried, Hangeland repeatedly offering both ball and space up to Bony - seemed to be compounded when James McArthur came on, with the visitors shifting to a what Warnock would have called a 4-4-1-1 formation, but which would be more aptly described as a 4-6-0. Marouane Chamakh was having another off day.

Chamakh: making the most of an off day

This gesture indicates 'he took his legs from under him'

This gesture indicates 1-1

The transformation of Mile Jedinak into a goalscoring midfielder has been aided heavily by set pieces, a bit like current Palace benchwarmer Andy Johnson's ascent into the England squad was ten years ago. Today, it was abetted by some nifty cheating from our mate in attack, Marouane Chamakh. He craftily fell over after sticking his leg in front of Jonjo Shelvey's, and Palace were bizarrely back in the game.

Chamakh: back to having an off day

Yannick Bolasie's potshots are improving

Jedinak's goal revitalised Palace. Well, that and the presence of James McArthur, who made a good go of playing in an attacking midfield position.

Swansea were keen to emphasise that they were the better side

Shelvey really should have scored just before half time, tapping a cross wide whilst unmarked at the back post

Yannick Bolasie having fun, facilitated by James McArthur

The second half began in the same way as the first, as Wayne Routledge found Shelvey, who chested, volleyed, and found Speroni in the centre of the Palace goal. It looked like Palace would have to prepare for an onslaught, spearheaded by Sigurdsson and Bony.

The furthest men in forward for Palace were Chamakh (top) and McArthur

The chasing of James McArthur, though, allowed Ledley and Jedinak to sit deeper, and help out with managing the in-form Swansea forwards. And as Bolasie and Puncheon came into the game, Swansea's wingers grew tired.

A frustrated Icelander

Both managers threw on their quickest substitutes. Fraizer Campbell and Wilfried Zaha came on for Chamakh and Puncheon, whilst Swansea brought on Barrow and Gomis. Kelly had the measure of Barrow by and large, and Routledge and Bony had faded both before being substituted. Montero was being marked tightly by Ward, and so it was up to Sigurdsson to win the game for Swansea, basically. Would Palace slip up again?

One chance (i.e. a poor Palace pass) in the 85th minute saw Sigurdsson blaze over. Another saw him shoot straight at Speroni...

Palace ended the game on the front foot, however, the pace of Campbell, Bolasie and Zaha keeping them going. They didn't deserve to win, but this game was a good example of where Palace have gone right, and where they have gone quite badly wrong, so far this season. No more so than in some of the shaky passing at the back that constantly threatened to let Sigurdsson and Bony in. However, the middle three of Jedinak, Ledley and McArthur provided a solid base that limited Swansea's ball movement, and gave Bolasie and Puncheon the freedom to attack the opposing full-backs.

The team at The Football Ramble podcast last week talked briefly about the unpredictability of games involving Palace this season, saying that they how they play seems unaffected by form and the stature of the opposition. At the time I disagreed with them, but after seeing them end this game chasing every half-chance they could, I am beginning to see what they mean. (This week's podcast also contained a great rant about can't-get-a-trial-at-Tranmere-now's Ched Evans, which I know is a situation most football fans and people-who-look-at-stuff will be truly bored of now, but it is an exceptionally good rant.)

Both these sides will be hoping to pick up wins on Tuesday night, Swansea facing QPR, and Palace up against Villa. They will need to start climbing the league table if they are going to convince the likes of Bony, Sigurdsson and Bolasie to remain where they are.