Crystal Palace beat Bournemouth 2-0 with ease on New Year’s Eve following a stale performance from the home side at the Vitality Stadium.
Bournemouth contributed no meaningful chances in the game, which paved the way for Palace to coast to victory. The home side made it even easier by gifting the away side two goals from two corners.
First for Jordan Ayew, who headed home unopposed following a great ball from Michael Olise. The Eagles then made it two when Olise was the provider again, this time for Eberechi Eze, who rifled home from outside the box.
The Cherries looked dejected coming out at half-time and offered no sense of urgency. Palace really should have extended their lead as they cantered towards a simple victory.
Patrick Vieira's men climb further into the top half of the table whereas Bournemouth now dive towards the relegation zone.
Story of the Match
Bournemouth made just one change from the side that lost 2-0 to Chelsea on Tuesday. Jaidon Anthony came into the line-up in place of Jack Stacey.
As for Crystal Palace, they made two changes following Boxing Day's 3-0 defeat to Fulham. The suspended duo of James Tomkins and Tyrick Mitchell were replaced by the returning Marc Guehi and Joel Ward.
Both sides were coming into this fixture off the back off defeats in their last games and the early exchanges suggested both sides were low on confidence. Suspect passing and sloppy possessional play made for a cagey opening ten minutes.
New owners Michael B. Jordan and Bill Foley were in attendance at the Vitality Stadium and almost saw their new team ahead inside seven minutes. Dominic Solanke went through on goal following a long ball forward by Lloyd Kelly, but the striker's touch was too heavy, and it allowed Marc Guehi to make a vital recovery challenge.
Bournemouth’s bright start was quickly extinguished, and Palace started to take the initiative. Wilfried Zaha pounced on a mistake from the Cherries defence and was fouled on the edge of the box. Referee Andre Marriner played advantage which led to Jeffrey Schlupp dragging a shot just wide of the post.
Palace then went ahead on the 20 minute mark, and it was as straight forward as could be for the away side. Michael Olise swung in a corner which Jordan Ayew met unopposed to score his first goal of the season and put Palace deservedly ahead. Gary O’Neill will be concerned at how easily his side capitulated from the set-piece.
There was further cause for concern with how poorly Bournemouth responded to going behind. Palace threatened to run away with the game and Olise might have done better with a tame shot from inside the box. Olise and Eberechi Eze then linked up shortly after, with latter firing a shot straight at Mark Travers in the Bournemouth goal.
Palace looked in the mood and unsurprisingly went 2-0 ahead just after the half hour mark from yet another corner. Olise played it short on that edge of the box to Eze, who rattled a shot into the corner to pile more misery on the Cherries.
Defensively the home side were non-existent and going forward they were not too dissimilar. Kieffer Moore struggled to give Bournemouth an outlet and Palace’s back four were largely untested. The same applied for Solanke, who barring his early half-chance was irrelevant. A flat performance was met with a chorus of boos at half-time.
Cherries search for a way back into the game
Bournemouth brought on Siriki Dembele for the second half and he was immediately offering the home side something different. The substitute did well to find Solanke on the byline, whose powerful effort from close range was beaten away by Vicente Guaita at his near post. The ball then fell to Moore on the rebound, but he could not direct his header goal-bound.
The onus was on the home side to perform but they did not seem up to the task. Palace restricted Bournemouth to half-chances and on the hour mark looked to be cruising towards victory.
Moore tried to change that with a difficult header that went wide of the post. Granted, most of the service into the Wales international was underwhelming all day.
There was virtually no ambition from Palace to go in search for a third as Bournemouth struggled to inject any urgency into the game. With 20 minutes to go the chances had dried up for both sides.
Palace nearly wrapped up the game ten minutes from time when Cheick Doucouré’s pull-back found Zaha, but he lost his bearings when the ball came across.
The away side will wonder how they did not make it 3-0 minutes from time. Zaha fed substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta, whose deft dink was smothered by Travers. The rebound fell to Zaha whose shot was then deflected just wide.
With 84 minutes gone, Bournemouth could only produce four attempts on goal. It illuminated the state of play and highlighted how passive the home side were in attack. Palace did not need to play their best football in order to get a result.
It was a huge win for Crystal Palace following that poor outing against Fulham. They host Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night. As for Bournemouth, they creep further towards the relegation places and have the prospect of Manchester United at Old Trafford to navigate on Tuesday night.
Player of the Match
It has to go to Michael Olise for his two assists. His overall contribution to the game was eye-catching enough with some lovely link-up play with Eze and Zaha, but his two moments of quality from the corner flag gave Palace the platform for victory.