How many penalties?

Glenn Murray loves a match ball!

So here we have Ian Holloway's first game in charge of Crystal Palace and what one hell of an impact he has made. So a lovely 5 - 0 win at home to a lowly Ipswich who created very little all game, sees the mighty Eagles go to the top of the Championship. During the Blackburn game we saw the Eagles awarded two penalties with Murray missing one for his hat-trick. In similar circumstances we have seen the referee award 3 penalties in the matter of around about 10 minutes. Murray could have had a hat-trick of penalties but as he did on Saturday, he missed the final penalty. Missing penalties does not seem to be Murray's style but if you're awarded 5 in 2 games he will cause issues for a striker as he wants to think of different areas to put the ball which can cause some in-decision. Despite the miss, Murray was still hungry and he bagged his second hat-trick of the season taking his total to 13.

Murray may have scored three of the goals but you can not take away a superb performance by the young Yannick Bolasie. He scored the games opener with a lovely goal, where he lifted the ball over the on rushing Ipswich keeper Stephen Henderson. Bolasie has added another dimention to the Palace attack and it takes some pressure off Wilfried Zaha as we have another player with bags full of skill can run at defenders, cross the ball and finally score goals. I predict big thinks for Yannick Bolasie - he is only 23 years old and has a sparkling future. Wilfried Zaha does rightly get the big price tag and the media attention but Bolasie should also receive some of the plaudits, and it is a nice touch when the fans also sing "he's just too good for you" about Boloasie. Well done Yannick, I hope your first Palace goals leads to many more.

I said in my last post I wanted a 5 or 6 goal win and Holloway has produced in his first game. The team is playing as a unit and for once you can see real promise in a side that our determined to work together. I love the balance and the shape of the squad which allows so much more space for players to roam and create real chances from so many different opportunities. The night was summed up by the final goal and the brilliant counter-attack by the team. A brilliant clearance by Dean Moxey which found Andre Moritz, Moritz passes the ball to Johnny Parr on the break away and another reverse ball back to the on running Moritz gives him enough time to slot the ball past Stephen Henderson to seal a resounding victory. If the team keeps up the momentum and play like this week in week out promotion is definitely in the teams grasp.