Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Sam Allardyce is still looking for his first Premier League win but at least the F.A. Cup has bought some solace, that said it took two attempts to dispose of one his former clubs Bolton in the previous round. A win that is Allardyce’s only win since taking charge of Crystal Palace.
And with Palace now in the bottom three due to a combination of their defeat at home to Everton and Swansea’s remarkable win at Liverpool last weekend, they will be no doubt pleased that they can divert their attention from a relegation battle for at least a a week.
But there will be no respite this Afternoon as they play host to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side. City come into this game probably still wondering how they did not manage to beat Tottenham last weekend after looking in control at 2-0 up.
The answer to that is not one definitive reason, but you could say with confidence that a mixture of Raheem Sterling’s aversion to finishing, a spirited Tottenham comeback and Andre Marriner’s failure to award a enalty when the game was at 2-1 meant that City failed to win.
Without question thought it was that lack of a penalty decision which was the turning point as just seconds later Tottenham went down the other end and leveled matters. A decision (or lack of) that left Pep Guardiola seething and rightly so.
You would like to think that he has just about calmed down by now and the hope will be that another cup trip to London proves just as fortuitous as it did in the third round. That’s because they made easy work of West Ham at The London Stadium with a 5-0 win.
That game saw City put a near full strength line up and it seems that the former Barcelona and Bayern boss is treating this competition with respect, which is bad news for Palace fans. But they themselves will ask how much of a priority this game will be.
Of course they would love to emulate the trips to Wembley that they had last season but could these extra fixtures become a bit of a nuisance should they progress in the competition and still likely be caught in what is turning into a relegation dogfight.
Always a tough balancing act to keep especially when staying in the Premier League is the obvious be all and all these days. It seems that teams are prepared for a cup run but not to the detriment of their survival hopes so perhaps Palace fans may just want to get this one over and done with.
City will want to bounce back from last weekends disappointment and this competition arguably brings them their best chance of delivering a first piece of silverware during the Guardiola era. I think this one should be a routine away win as the Mancunians move into Round 5.
