Coventry 0 Crystal Palace 2 - 26/12/2007
Coventry 0 Crystal Palace 2 - 26/12/2007
Coventry City: Andy Marshall, Arjan De Zeeuw, Gary Borrowdale (Kevin Thornton 80), David McNamee (Julian Gray 9), Ben Turner, Stephen Hughes (Dele Adebola 70), Jay Tabb, Isaac Osbourne, Michael Doyle, Leon Best, Michael Mifsud,
Subs not used: Robert Page, Elliott Ward
Booked: Arjan De Zeeuw 87
Crystal Palace: Julian Speroni, Clint Hill, Mark Hudson, Danny Butterfield, Matthew Lawrence, Shaun Derry, Ben Watson, Tom Soares (Carl Fletcher 82), James Scowcroft, Clinton Morrison (Lee Hills 69), Sean Scannell (Paul Ifill 86),
Subs not used: Jose Miguel Fonte, Dougie Freedman
Booked: Shaun Derry 81, Tom Soares 60
Goals: Clinton Morrison 47, Paul Ifill 88
Attendance: 22134
Referee: K Stroud
Teamtalk
Crystal Palace extended their unbeaten run to 11 games with a 2-0 Boxing Day victory over an uninspiring Coventry at the Ricoh Arena.
Clinton Morrison netted his 10th Championship goal of the season from 12 yards just two minutes after half-time, before Michael Doyle saw his penalty well saved by Eagles keeper Julian Speroni just after the hour mark.
And the hosts were made to pay when substitute Paul Ifill added a second in the closing stages to wrap up all three points and move Neil Warnock's side closer to the play-off places.
Coventry appeared to be feeling the effects of a heavy Christmas dinner as the visitors flew out of the traps in the opening exchanges.
Sean Scannell and James Scowcroft both forced saves from Sky Blues keeper Andy Marshall in the first five minutes, before Ben Watson also tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area.
The hosts were not helped by an injury to David NcNamee after just nine minutes which saw the right-back replaced by Julian Gray.
Nevertheless, Iain Dowie's side withstood the early barrage and almost took the lead themselves but for quick reactions from Palace keeper Speroni to tip Leon Best's 20-yard effort around a post.
The chance seemed to calm any early nerves for the hosts as they settled into the encounter, yet neither side managed to up the tempo significantly as the half progressed.
Eagles midfielder Ben Watson fired a promising free-kick straight into the Coventry wall just before the half-hour mark, while Mark Hudson headed harmlessly wide just minutes later.
Watson again fired another effort straight at Marshall from distance as the away side began to dominate the closing stages of a half which failed to spark.
Palace continued to apply the pressure after the restart and deservedly got their reward courtesy of Morrison's 47th-minute strike.
Watson delivered an inswinging cross from the left channel which the Republic of Ireland striker did well to latch on to and fire low past Marshall from 12 yards.
Arjan de Zeeuw attempted to drag Coventry back on level terms with a speculative effort which failed to trouble Speroni, before Best headed wide from six yards with the goal at his mercy.
Yet Coventry looked to have been handed a lifeline when Clint Hill was somewhat harshly adjudged to have brought down Best in the area on the hour mark.
But Doyle failed to take advantage of the opportunity as Speroni dived superbly to the bottom right corner to parry his effort to safety.
The Eagles shot stopper was in inspired form and again did well to deny Michael Mifsud's goalbound effort just minutes later.
Dowie introduced Dele Adebola and Kevin Thornton as the game entered the closing stages but the hosts still failed to find their way past a resilient Palace defence.
And it was up to Ifill to secure victory late on from 12 yards as Palace extended Coventry's dismal run to just 1 win in the last 11 meetings between the two sides.
CCFC
Clinton Morrison and Paul Ifill landed the Boxing Day knockout blows as the Sky Blues suffered a second straight defeat in the Championship at the hands of Crystal Palace.
The home side deserved more for their endeavors but were caught napping when Morrison put Palace ahead early on in the second-half.
Skipper Michael Doyle the missed a glorious chance to level when he saw a penalty saved by Eagles goalkeeper Julian Speroni.
And a late strike from substitute Ifill made for a far from happy Christmas for Iain Dowie's men.
Dowie made four changes to the side beaten 4-0 at Blackpool on Saturday with goalkeeper Andy Marshall, defender Arjan De Zeeuw and midfielders Isaac Osbourne and Stephen Hughes replacing Dimi Konstantopoulos, Elliott Ward, the injured Michael Hughes and the suspended Kevin Kyle.
Marshall, making his first appearance since a Carling Cup defeat against West Ham on October 30, was called into action right from the start as he pulled off an excellent double save just ninety seconds into the game.
Tom Soares freed Sean Scannell down the right and the youngster cut inside Gary Borrowdale and sent in a low shot which Marshall did well to parry before reacting quickly to smother at the feet of former Sky Blue James Scowcroft.
Scannell was again in the thick of things in the fifth minute when he found himself in behind the City defence, but his attempted lob was blocked by the onrushing Marshall.
Leon Best battles for the ball
The Sky Blues then lost full-back David McNamee to what appeared to be a reoccurrence of a troublesome hamstring problem, with winger Julian Gray replacing the Scottish star and Osbourne reverting to right-back.
Leon Best was a lively presence upfront for the home side and saw a powerful low drive from the edge of the area turned behind by Speroni before Morrison fired wide at the other end.
Best again went close to grabbing the opener on the half hour when he met Michael Mifsud's dangerous cross, but a deflection off defender Danny Butterfield directed the ball narrowly wide of goal.
A good move involving Best and Mifsud then ended with Doyle stinging Speroni's fingers from 20-yards before City were indebted to Marshall just before the break as the experienced custodian spread himself well to foil Morrison with the Eagles frontman through on goal.
But Marshall was left with no chance two minutes into the second-half as the visitors took the lead.
Ben Watson's free-kick into the area found its way through to Morrison, who coolly tucked the ball into the net from seven yards despite adamant appeals from the Sky Blues for offside against the striker.
Arjan De Zeeuw volleyed wide before Mifsud's centre almost found Jay Tabb at the back post as the Sky Blues looked for a swift response.
They earned a reward for that pressure in the 58th minute when Soares was adjudged to have handled Best's cut-back in the area and referee Keith Stroud pointed to the penalty spot.
Skipper Doyle stepped-up and hit the spot-kick low to Speroni's left, but the keeper guessed correctly to stop the shot before clutching the ball to his chest at the second attempt.
City continued to apply the pressure, though, with Speroni flying to his left to keep out a fierce long-range drive from Stephen Hughes and a last-ditch tackle from Mark Hudson denying Jay Tabb after Mifsud found the midfielder in space.
But, against the run of play, Palace sealed all three points and extended an unbeaten run of results to eleven games with three minutes remaining as substitute Ifill wriggled free of Ben Turner before firing past Marshall in the area with virtually his first touch of the game.
4thegame
Crystal Palace claimed a comfortable three points at the Ricoh Arena thanks to second-half strikes from Clinton Morrison and Paul Ifill.
Morrison slotted home just after the break, before Ifill scored with his first touch after coming on as a late sub.
Coventry had been given an opportunity to get back to 1-1 before that, but Irish midfielder Michael Doyle had a 60th minute penalty saved by Julian Speroni.
Crystal Palace had the best of the early exchanges and young forward Sean Scannell looked particularly dangerous.
The 17-year-old cut past Ben Turner in the Coventry defence in the second minute but his shot from a tight angle was saved by recalled keeper Andy Marshall.
James Scowcroft followed up but his effort was stopped by a combination of Marshall and a City defender.
Scannell went through again after five minutes as the home team's offside trap failed badly and Marshall was forced to save again as he came out to the edge of his area.
Coventry full-back David McNamee limped off after just seven minutes with a hamstring injury to be replaced by Julian Gray.
Iain Dowie's side finally put together a decent move after nine minutes which involved Doyle, Stephen Hughes and Jay Tabb, before Leon Best's low shot was well saved by Speroni.
Marshall set up a chance for Coventry on the half-hour mark with a superb kick to Michael Mifsud. The little striker pulled clear of the Palace defence and crossed for Best who volleyed wide.
From the resulting corner, Hughes was given a free header at the near post but he tried to use his left foot and the chance was lost.
Ben Watson tried his look from distance in the 37th minute but again Marshall was equal to it.
Marshall made another important stop as Morrison looked clean through but the Coventry goalkeeper made himself big and saved well.
But Morrison did open the scoring just after half-time when a free-kick from Watson was allowed to roll through to him and he had all the time in the world to plant his shot into the Coventry net.
Gray did well to cut past two Palace defenders in the 58th minute and crossed for Best who headed wide.
The home team were handed a golden chance to draw level on the hour mark when the referee's assistant spotted Clint Hill tugging at Best in the box.
Doyle stepped up but Speroni saved the penalty low down to his left.
Mifsud broke clear two minutes later but his shot was again repelled by the Palace keeper.
Coventry had improved in the second half and Hughes tried his luck from distance after 68 minutes only for Speroni to save again.
Palace doubled their lead late on when substitute Ifill took advantage of more slack defending to fire past Marshall in the 88th minute.
Coventry City: Andy Marshall, Arjan De Zeeuw, Gary Borrowdale (Kevin Thornton 80), David McNamee (Julian Gray 9), Ben Turner, Stephen Hughes (Dele Adebola 70), Jay Tabb, Isaac Osbourne, Michael Doyle, Leon Best, Michael Mifsud,
Subs not used: Robert Page, Elliott Ward
Booked: Arjan De Zeeuw 87
Crystal Palace: Julian Speroni, Clint Hill, Mark Hudson, Danny Butterfield, Matthew Lawrence, Shaun Derry, Ben Watson, Tom Soares (Carl Fletcher 82), James Scowcroft, Clinton Morrison (Lee Hills 69), Sean Scannell (Paul Ifill 86),
Subs not used: Jose Miguel Fonte, Dougie Freedman
Booked: Shaun Derry 81, Tom Soares 60
Goals: Clinton Morrison 47, Paul Ifill 88
Attendance: 22134
Referee: K Stroud
Teamtalk
Crystal Palace extended their unbeaten run to 11 games with a 2-0 Boxing Day victory over an uninspiring Coventry at the Ricoh Arena.
Clinton Morrison netted his 10th Championship goal of the season from 12 yards just two minutes after half-time, before Michael Doyle saw his penalty well saved by Eagles keeper Julian Speroni just after the hour mark.
And the hosts were made to pay when substitute Paul Ifill added a second in the closing stages to wrap up all three points and move Neil Warnock's side closer to the play-off places.
Coventry appeared to be feeling the effects of a heavy Christmas dinner as the visitors flew out of the traps in the opening exchanges.
Sean Scannell and James Scowcroft both forced saves from Sky Blues keeper Andy Marshall in the first five minutes, before Ben Watson also tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area.
The hosts were not helped by an injury to David NcNamee after just nine minutes which saw the right-back replaced by Julian Gray.
Nevertheless, Iain Dowie's side withstood the early barrage and almost took the lead themselves but for quick reactions from Palace keeper Speroni to tip Leon Best's 20-yard effort around a post.
The chance seemed to calm any early nerves for the hosts as they settled into the encounter, yet neither side managed to up the tempo significantly as the half progressed.
Eagles midfielder Ben Watson fired a promising free-kick straight into the Coventry wall just before the half-hour mark, while Mark Hudson headed harmlessly wide just minutes later.
Watson again fired another effort straight at Marshall from distance as the away side began to dominate the closing stages of a half which failed to spark.
Palace continued to apply the pressure after the restart and deservedly got their reward courtesy of Morrison's 47th-minute strike.
Watson delivered an inswinging cross from the left channel which the Republic of Ireland striker did well to latch on to and fire low past Marshall from 12 yards.
Arjan de Zeeuw attempted to drag Coventry back on level terms with a speculative effort which failed to trouble Speroni, before Best headed wide from six yards with the goal at his mercy.
Yet Coventry looked to have been handed a lifeline when Clint Hill was somewhat harshly adjudged to have brought down Best in the area on the hour mark.
But Doyle failed to take advantage of the opportunity as Speroni dived superbly to the bottom right corner to parry his effort to safety.
The Eagles shot stopper was in inspired form and again did well to deny Michael Mifsud's goalbound effort just minutes later.
Dowie introduced Dele Adebola and Kevin Thornton as the game entered the closing stages but the hosts still failed to find their way past a resilient Palace defence.
And it was up to Ifill to secure victory late on from 12 yards as Palace extended Coventry's dismal run to just 1 win in the last 11 meetings between the two sides.
CCFC
Clinton Morrison and Paul Ifill landed the Boxing Day knockout blows as the Sky Blues suffered a second straight defeat in the Championship at the hands of Crystal Palace.
The home side deserved more for their endeavors but were caught napping when Morrison put Palace ahead early on in the second-half.
Skipper Michael Doyle the missed a glorious chance to level when he saw a penalty saved by Eagles goalkeeper Julian Speroni.
And a late strike from substitute Ifill made for a far from happy Christmas for Iain Dowie's men.
Dowie made four changes to the side beaten 4-0 at Blackpool on Saturday with goalkeeper Andy Marshall, defender Arjan De Zeeuw and midfielders Isaac Osbourne and Stephen Hughes replacing Dimi Konstantopoulos, Elliott Ward, the injured Michael Hughes and the suspended Kevin Kyle.
Marshall, making his first appearance since a Carling Cup defeat against West Ham on October 30, was called into action right from the start as he pulled off an excellent double save just ninety seconds into the game.
Tom Soares freed Sean Scannell down the right and the youngster cut inside Gary Borrowdale and sent in a low shot which Marshall did well to parry before reacting quickly to smother at the feet of former Sky Blue James Scowcroft.
Scannell was again in the thick of things in the fifth minute when he found himself in behind the City defence, but his attempted lob was blocked by the onrushing Marshall.
Leon Best battles for the ball
The Sky Blues then lost full-back David McNamee to what appeared to be a reoccurrence of a troublesome hamstring problem, with winger Julian Gray replacing the Scottish star and Osbourne reverting to right-back.
Leon Best was a lively presence upfront for the home side and saw a powerful low drive from the edge of the area turned behind by Speroni before Morrison fired wide at the other end.
Best again went close to grabbing the opener on the half hour when he met Michael Mifsud's dangerous cross, but a deflection off defender Danny Butterfield directed the ball narrowly wide of goal.
A good move involving Best and Mifsud then ended with Doyle stinging Speroni's fingers from 20-yards before City were indebted to Marshall just before the break as the experienced custodian spread himself well to foil Morrison with the Eagles frontman through on goal.
But Marshall was left with no chance two minutes into the second-half as the visitors took the lead.
Ben Watson's free-kick into the area found its way through to Morrison, who coolly tucked the ball into the net from seven yards despite adamant appeals from the Sky Blues for offside against the striker.
Arjan De Zeeuw volleyed wide before Mifsud's centre almost found Jay Tabb at the back post as the Sky Blues looked for a swift response.
They earned a reward for that pressure in the 58th minute when Soares was adjudged to have handled Best's cut-back in the area and referee Keith Stroud pointed to the penalty spot.
Skipper Doyle stepped-up and hit the spot-kick low to Speroni's left, but the keeper guessed correctly to stop the shot before clutching the ball to his chest at the second attempt.
City continued to apply the pressure, though, with Speroni flying to his left to keep out a fierce long-range drive from Stephen Hughes and a last-ditch tackle from Mark Hudson denying Jay Tabb after Mifsud found the midfielder in space.
But, against the run of play, Palace sealed all three points and extended an unbeaten run of results to eleven games with three minutes remaining as substitute Ifill wriggled free of Ben Turner before firing past Marshall in the area with virtually his first touch of the game.
4thegame
Crystal Palace claimed a comfortable three points at the Ricoh Arena thanks to second-half strikes from Clinton Morrison and Paul Ifill.
Morrison slotted home just after the break, before Ifill scored with his first touch after coming on as a late sub.
Coventry had been given an opportunity to get back to 1-1 before that, but Irish midfielder Michael Doyle had a 60th minute penalty saved by Julian Speroni.
Crystal Palace had the best of the early exchanges and young forward Sean Scannell looked particularly dangerous.
The 17-year-old cut past Ben Turner in the Coventry defence in the second minute but his shot from a tight angle was saved by recalled keeper Andy Marshall.
James Scowcroft followed up but his effort was stopped by a combination of Marshall and a City defender.
Scannell went through again after five minutes as the home team's offside trap failed badly and Marshall was forced to save again as he came out to the edge of his area.
Coventry full-back David McNamee limped off after just seven minutes with a hamstring injury to be replaced by Julian Gray.
Iain Dowie's side finally put together a decent move after nine minutes which involved Doyle, Stephen Hughes and Jay Tabb, before Leon Best's low shot was well saved by Speroni.
Marshall set up a chance for Coventry on the half-hour mark with a superb kick to Michael Mifsud. The little striker pulled clear of the Palace defence and crossed for Best who volleyed wide.
From the resulting corner, Hughes was given a free header at the near post but he tried to use his left foot and the chance was lost.
Ben Watson tried his look from distance in the 37th minute but again Marshall was equal to it.
Marshall made another important stop as Morrison looked clean through but the Coventry goalkeeper made himself big and saved well.
But Morrison did open the scoring just after half-time when a free-kick from Watson was allowed to roll through to him and he had all the time in the world to plant his shot into the Coventry net.
Gray did well to cut past two Palace defenders in the 58th minute and crossed for Best who headed wide.
The home team were handed a golden chance to draw level on the hour mark when the referee's assistant spotted Clint Hill tugging at Best in the box.
Doyle stepped up but Speroni saved the penalty low down to his left.
Mifsud broke clear two minutes later but his shot was again repelled by the Palace keeper.
Coventry had improved in the second half and Hughes tried his luck from distance after 68 minutes only for Speroni to save again.
Palace doubled their lead late on when substitute Ifill took advantage of more slack defending to fire past Marshall in the 88th minute.
posted by SkyBlueSnowy at 11:48 pm
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