Relieved: Alan Pardew correctly predicts the full-time score at the Liberty Stadium yesterday
It’s taken five weeks. But a point is a point, and after a dreadful run of form, Crystal Palace’s away draw at relegation-threatened Swansea yesterday will come as welcome relief, especially after the demoralising loss to Bournemouth at Selhurst Park in midweek.
The Eagles were facing a sixth league defeat in succession when two minutes into the second half, defender Scott Dann cancelled out Gylfi Sigurdsson’s first-half free-kick. Late in the game, Palace provided South Wales with a passable re-enactment of Rorke’s Drift, with a thin red (and blue) line as they defended to the last man to hold on to the draw.
This morning, Palace are 12th in the league, nine points above the relegation zone on 32 points.
“This was everything for us,” Alan Pardew, the Palace manager, said. ‘We had to sit ourselves down at half-time and take away the tyre that we were dragging behind us after five defeats.
“Make no mistake, it was Crystal Palace DNA which got us home by getting blocks in at the end.
“We thwarted a Swansea side who are in good form, so it makes it a little bit more sweet that we managed to pull it back.”
Emmanuel Adebayor got his first start for Palace, who he signed for in the January transfer window after being without a club for five months. The former Arsenal, Tottenham and Real Madrid striker in the end lasted 86 minutes.
The signing is reckoned to be a big gamble by Palace, hopeful that the 31-year-old’s goals, if they come, will keep the Eagles safely in the Premier League. Pardew said: “He had a couple of moments in the game where you can see the class he has. He was great in the dressing room and he has settled in very quickly.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with his application and the way he’s conducted himself since he’s been here. I reckon in about three games we’ll see the best from him.”
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