Goals from Luka Milivojevic and Andros Townsend were enough to seal the victory of Crystal Palace over Norwich City, as the home side showed the importance of experience in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace Show Experience Matters Against Norwich City
First Half
It was Crystal Palace who started the brighter of the sides. They pressed with high intensity, unsettling Norwich City and setting the tempo early on.
Jordan Ayew was the first to force either goalkeeper into a save. Palace dispossessed the visitors in midfield, and Ayew found himself free on the right-hand side. However, his shot was easily dealt with by Ralf Fahrmann, making his Premier League debut for the Canaries.
Palace made their early pressure count, as the referee awarded them a penalty in the 19th minute. Ibrahim Amadou – who almost joined the Eagles in 2018 – brought down James McArthur in the box. After protestations from the offender, Luka Milivojevic hammered home the resulting penalty.
Norwich’s quick counter-attacking style came into display just before the 30th-minute mark. A simple ball over the Palace defence found the in-form Teemu Pukki, whose volley was tipped over the bar by Vicente Guaita.
The visitors perhaps should have equalised before half-time. Todd Cantwell had the best of the opportunities in 36th minute. His effort from just inside the area was blocked by Martin Kelly. Had the Palace defender not made the last-ditch attempt, it would have been a certain goal.
Second Half
The second half began in a similar fashion, with both sides attacking with high-intensity.
Palace, though, attacked without conviction. Both James McArthur and Patrick van Aanholt saw efforts sail over the crossbar, despite both being in acres of space.
Unsurprisingly, it was Wilfried Zaha who was causing the most problems for the Norwich defence. The 26-year-old found himself in behind on several occasions and now looks to be back at his best following summer transfer speculation.
The intensity that the half began with dropped as the half went on. Roy Hodgson’s side were waiting for the breaks, as Norwich committed more men forward in the bid for the equaliser.
Crystal Palace made sure that there would be no repeat of the last-minute despair that they suffered against Wolverhampton Wanderers, as they added a second in injury. Wilfried Zaha was instrumental in setting up the goal, as he clutched onto the ball before cutting inside. He then laid it off to substitute Andros Townsend, whose strike found the bottom corner.
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