Crystal Palace 2-0 Burnley: Report, Ratings & Reaction as Eagles Ease to First Home Win

Crystal Palace put in a dominant display as they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners over Burnley at Selhurst Park. It was the home side who began the better of the

Crystal Palace put in a dominant display as they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners over Burnley at Selhurst Park.

It was the home side who began the better of the two teams, with Cheikhou Kouyate just inches away from getting on the end of Wilfried Zaha's ball across the face of goal in the opening five minutes. Then after 15 minutes of knocking on the door, Palace finally got themselves in front.

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Max Meyer was unable to get on the end of a James McArthur cross, but the ball carried on past the German and rolled into the back of the net after coming off the post. They got a hint of luck with the finish, but Palace were full value for their lead.

The second half proved to follow the same pattern as the first, with Palace dominating the play and barraging the visiting goal with chance after chance. The home fans were growing frustrated as their side struggled to find the decisive second goal, but they finally found it in spectacular fashion.

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Andros Townsend cut in from the right hand side and unleashed a stinging strike from the edge of the area, which sailed into Joe Hart's top corner to seal all three points for Palace. 

CRYSTAL PALACE

Key Talking Point

Crystal Palace certainly didn't look like a team who had won just two points at home all season, as they ran out comfortable winners on the day. They were the better side from start to finish and only looked like adding to their lead after going in front after 15 minutes.

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They've really struggled for goals this season, having scored just eight goals in their opening 13 Premier League games, but on the day they peppered Joe Hart's goal. One arguable criticism of their performance was that they only scored two goals when they should've had a lot more.

Regardless, they earned a vital three points with a fantastic performance, and Roy Hodgson will be hoping they can build on the result with a number of crucial games coming up in their schedule.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Hennessey (6); Wan-Bissaka (7), Tomkins (6), Sakho (7), van Aanholt (8); McArthur (8), Milivojevic (7), Kouyate (7), Meyer (7); Townsend (8), Zaha (8*).

Substitutes: Schlupp (6), Sorloth (N/A), Puncheon (N/A).

STAR MAN

He's a fan favourite at Selhurst Park and it was clear to see why today. Zaha proved to be a real nuisance for the Burnley defence all afternoon, causing them all sorts of problems as the focal point of Palace's attacking play. 

Zaha Masterclass 👏👏

— PogbomJr (@pogbom_Jr) December 1, 2018

Zaha is the best in the prem

— Strength Wisdom And Guidance™ (@SWAG_ADJUSTMENT) December 1, 2018

In truth he'll probably be left feeling slightly disappointed not to have got his name on the scoresheet given the number of chances he had, but he can be proud of his performance which played a vital part in earning his side a crucial win.

WORST PLAYER

He didn't have a bad game by any means, but on a day where the Palace attackers saw the majority of the ball, James Tomkins had a relatively quiet afternoon. It's never a bad thing when a defender has a quiet game, and that certainly proved to be the case today with Burnley struggling to create any chances.

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He did what he had to do and dealt with the very few attacks the opposition threw at him the entire game, however Tomkins himself didn't have a great deal to do and he won't mind that at all.

BURNLEY

Key Talking Point

It was a crucial game for Burnley, heading into the encounter level on points with Palace, however they never got going on the day. Hodgson's men attacked the Clarets right from the kick off as they struggled to get out of their own half.

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Even though there was a hint of fortune to McArthur's goal, nobody could dispute that Palace were well worth their lead as Burnley failed to even notch a single attempt on goal in the first half in what was a frustrating performance.

The second half wasn't much better with Burnley just having no answer to Palace's attacking prowess, and there will be a lot for Sean Dyche and his men to work on during the week after what was a very disappointing day at the office.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Hart (7*); Lowton (6), Long (6), Mee (6), Taylor (6); Lennon (5), Defour (5), Cork (6), Gudmundsson (6); Hendrick (5), Wood (5).

Substitutes: Brady (6), Vokes (6), Barnes (6).

STAR MAN

It's not often you say the goalkeeper is the best performer on a losing side, but it could've been much, much worse for Burnley if it wasn't for Hart. He kept the score line at 1-0 for much of the game which kept his side in the game despite the fact they weren't creating a great deal.

I see that Joe Hart still has some good game in him. #CRYBUR @NBCSportsSoccer @PLinUSA

— Andy Horn ✌🏻✌🏿🐾 ⚾️ ⚽️ (@Posture_Pal) December 1, 2018

Joe Hart the only player who can hold his head up after this. Nowhere near acceptable, ready for the usual bull shit from Dyche after. He's taking us down

— Matthew Stubbs (@mattstubbs17) December 1, 2018

He'll have been disappointed to concede in the fashion he did for the opening goal, however there wasn't a great deal he could do about Townsend's stinging shot which wrapped up the points. 

WORST PLAYER

Burnley found themselves on the back foot for the majority of the first half, with Aaron Lennon struggling to make an impact on the game. He often found himself tracking back and defending rather than getting forward and testing the Eagles' defence, meaning he was pretty irrelevant in the first half.

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In fairness to him all of Burnley's attacking players struggled, but Lennon had a particularly poor game, and his afternoon was ended prematurely as he was subbed off at half time after a performance he'll want to forget in a hurry.

Looking Ahead

It was a great afternoon all round for Palace after another promising display against Manchester United the previous week, and they'll be hoping to extend their unbeaten run to three games when they travel to face Brighton on Tuesday night.

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As for Burnley, they'll need to pick themselves up and dust themselves down as they prepare to host high-flying Liverpool at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.