Alan Pardew’s first game as West Bromwich Albion manager finished 0-0 against former club Crystal Palace.
Pardew claimed his sacking by the Eagles just under 12 months ago was “harsh” and would have been keen to defeat the south Londoners. The Baggies, though, failed to break down a resolute Palace back four with Joel Ward and Julian Speroni, in particular, both in excellent form.
Roy Hodgson’s side are off the bottom of the table for the first time since August and are unbeaten in four games. However, today’s stalemate means they are still without an away goal since Christian Benteke scored against Liverpool on 23 April - over 14 hours of football away from Selhurst Park.
Pardew promised a brand of football that involved more attacking following the slightly more structured approach that former boss Tony Pulis is renowned for. The Baggies boss named a positive line-up that included Salomon Rondon, Jay Rodriguez and Hal Robson-Kanu, and the latter came close to opening the scoring eight minutes in but he blazed his effort over the bar.
The improvement of Wilfried Zaha was one of Pardew's biggest achievements during his time as Palace boss, and the winger had the Eagles' first chance but saw his effort drift just wide. Zaha then felt he should have had a penalty when he was felled by Ben Foster but referee Michael Oliver waved away the Ivorian's protests.
Christian Benteke has failed to score this season but had two good chances in quick succession as the first half drew to a close. The first came when the striker beat three West Brom defenders but shot straight at Foster. the Baggies goalkeeper then did well to hold the Belgium international's header from a corner moments later.
Baggies dominate second half but Ward and Speroni earn Palace a point
Pardew's half-time team talk clearly had a positive effect as the Midlands side dominated the second half. Ward was forced into a good block to deny youngster James Field a second goal in as many games, while the best chance fell to Rodriguez who failed to beat Julian Speroni when put through on goal. The Argentine goalkeeper was a late replacement for Wayne Hennessey, who had suffered a back spasm in the warm-up, and did well to keep out Rodriguez's effort having fled his goal to close down the angle.
Palace are desperate for some attacking reinforcements in January. Benteke remains their only senior centre forward, with Bakary Sako the only forward on a substitutes' bench that consisted of just five players. Ruben Loftus-Cheek squared the ball across the six-yard box late in the second half but nobody was on hand to tap in, perhaps summing up a season that has seen the Eagles score just eight Premier League goals.
Field found Ward in the way once again, while Rondon headed inches wide as the game edged towards its conclusion.