Crystal Palace earned their first point of 2016 with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.
Palace fell behind when Gylfi Sigurdsson curled a fantastic free-kick beyond Wayne Hennessey in the 13th minute, but Palace responded well and finally drew level just after half-time when Scott Dann poked home from close range following a near-post flick-on from Damien Delaney.
How did each Palace player perform?
Palace much more solid defensively
Wayne Hennessey - 6: Sigurdsson's opening free-kick went into the corner of the goal that Hennessey was covering, however, the effort was well struck and the Welshman was possibly expecting the ball to go into the opposite corner and was already moving over to that side of the goal. Ended up making some crucial saves late in the game, especially making amends from another Sigurdsson free-kick.
Joel Ward - 6: another solid performance from the ever-present full-back. Surged forward well to support Zaha and defended resolutely as part of an improved Palace defence at the Liberty Stadium.
Scott Dann - 7: seems to be being relied on both defensively and offensively. Clawed Palace back into the game with the equaliser from Damien Delaney's flick-on, and was crucial at the back as Palace withstood a late onslaught of pressure.
Damien Delaney - 6: improved a huge amount from his recent performances. The Irishman was key to the goal as he flicked a corner into the path of Scott Dann who scored. Still looks error-prone.
Pape Souare - 6: was at fault for Benik Afobe's winner for Bournemouth on Monday night but, similarly to Delaney, had a better game against Swansea. Like Ward, advanced forward well and his crossing was a threat as always.
Cabaye returns from injury but Jedinak struggles
Yohan Cabaye - 7: returned to the team after injury kept him out of the defeat to Bournemouth and offered much more composure in midfield. Fatigue ended his game after 70 minutes.
Mile Jedinak - 5: has had to come in recently due to injuries to the midfield players, and has looked uncomfortable. Gave away many silly free-kicks, particularly in the last couple of minutes when Sigurdsson came close to winning the game for Swansea.
Wilfried Zaha - 6: not as effective as his last few games but still Palace's main attacking outlet. Improvement of his final ball is needed.
Jordon Mutch - 6: harshly does not get as much credit as he deserves. Almost scored when his header was cleared from behind Fabianski in the Swansea goal.
Chung-yong Lee - 6: similarly to Zaha, not as effective as recently but still showed flashes of what he can produce, but with minimal results.
Emmanuel Adebayor - 6: looked very classy and showed his experience early on the game with a few nice touches and good hold-up play. Showed some naivety defensively when he gave away the foul that led to Sigurdsson's goal and tired as the game went on.
Subs:
Marouane Chamakh - 6: entered the game at half-time in place of Lee to offer Adebayor some support up front. Played well and offered Palace a more direct route.
Boateng makes debut and gives youngsters something to aspire to become
Hiram Boateng - 7: became Palace's first academy graduate to make their league debut since Kyle de Silva debuted in 2012. Boateng certainly did not look out of place when he replaced Yohan Cabaye and offered a physical presence in midfield, and also almost scored when he fizzed a shot just past the post. His debut will be used as a huge motivation to the other academy players at the club who may have lacked role models over the past four years.
Fraizer Campbell - NA: replaced Adebayor late in the game but was no given sufficient time to make an impact