Crystal Palace - 0
Liverpool - 0

It seems an age since it was first announced that Palace would be hosting Liverpool in the 4th round of the Cup, but finally the big day arrived. The talk, for ages, seemed to centre around if we would be good enough to hold the Reds or if they would merely "canter" to a win. Of course, they started raging favourites with the bookies, and we simply prayed that we might put up a reasonable showing.

Liverpool kicked off, but it was Andy Johnson who stole in behind the defence, John Arne Riise recovering in time to avert any danger that might be lurking. A couple of free kicks to the visitors were wasted, and then AJ struck the ball into the area, Dele Adebola firing his header just wide of the mark. Emil Heskey fired the next shot on goal, but from long-range it did little to trouble Alex Kolinko, making a welcome return to goal for the Eagles. Bruno Cheyrou sent a cross in that danger man Michael Owen headed over the top of the bar, quickly followed by Cheyrou firing a shot over the top from a El Hadji Diouf cross. Diouf then saw his run at goal cut out by Kit Symons, whilst at the other end Tommy Black made a good run, the ball being cut out just as he was shaping to play Dele in on goal.

Cheyrou managed to get behind the defence, but Hayden Mullins got back in time to clear the danger, and AJ made a neat run, taking on just too much when he really should have passed to the support that we had in the Liverpool area. Dele then went on a good run that ended with the keeper, Chris Kirkland, colliding with the big man up front; but as the ball fell nicely to AJ he failed to convert the chance. The keeper, unfortunately, was hurt in the collision, and following treatment on the field he was taken off, being replaced by Jerzy Dudek who lost his number one keepers position to Kirkland last December.

Danny Murphy fired a long-range shot at goal that Alex did well to hang on to, and Palace won a corner at the other end, which Julian Gray, somehow, managed to put out of play without a player touching the ball. We really must do better than that; our chances of winning this match will surely depend on our play from set pieces.

Julian headed the ball out of our area, but Cheyrou was the fortunate recipient, his shot going just wide of the post. AJ got the ball through to Dele, and the ball fell neatly to Tony Popovic, his shot being blocked by the stalwart Liverpool defence. A free kick, to Palace for a foul on Julian by Jamie Carragher, was fired goalwards, and as Julian looked almost certain to score it was Heskey who saved the day; I thought he was an attacker, not a defender!

Owen managed to beat Kit as he set sail for goal once again, but Curtis Fleming was on hand to clear the lines once more, and as we entered injury time (3 minutes) there was little action other than Owen managing to get himself caught offside. The Palace side was cheered off by the full house crowd, and one can only assume that Trevor Francis would have been fairly pleased with the first half showing, with perhaps just a "request" for a goal in the second half.

Palace got the second half underway, playing towards the Holmesdale end, and AJ forced a corner as Sami Hyypia got in the way of his cross into the centre. Tommy fired the ball from the corner kick, and though Tony rose well above the defence his shot went meekly to Dudek in goal, and the chance once again went begging. Hayden conceded a corner, which was the lesser of two evils, as Cheyrou looked set to fire a cross into our area, but again Tony was on hand to clear the danger as the ball sailed in towards goal.

Julian almost scored a spectacular goal, the only small problem being that it would have been into his own goalmouth. He did avert the danger, but Alex was stranded as the ball rolled just wide of the post, and it took a moment for the crowd to realise that the ball had not ended up in the back of the net.

Curtis Fleming got booked for a foul on Cheyrou, and then Alex made a great save from a Murphy shot at goal that looked destined for the opening goal of the match. Heskey went down following a tackle by Shaun Derry, but there was obviously little wrong with him, and the referee waved play-on. Following treatment his next move was nearly to get free on goal, only a good tackle from Hayden denying him once more.

Dele played the ball into the area, but Tommy and AJ both failed to get to it in time, followed by a shot at goal taken by Owen, the ball going straight to Alex with little pace, and causing him little problem. Trevor decided that this was a good opportunity to make his first change of the afternoon, and Tommy came off, being replaced by Wayne Routledge. His first touch of the ball found Danny Butterfield, and though his cross got through to Dele the shot went straight to Dudek. A corner to Liverpool almost brought about a goal, Riise managing to get his head to the ball, the shot being deflected by a fortunate Palace defence. Both AJ and Dele were foiled by the defence when in a good position to score, and then Riise went down under a challenge by Wayne for a free kick that was wasted by the Liverpool attack. One must admit though, it was amusing to see such a big man go down following a tackle by someone the size of young Routledge!

Dele was then replaced by Ade Akinbiyi, and a free kick to Palace almost caught the Liverpool defence napping, Hyypia finally clearing the danger. Julian was brought down near the corner by Diouf, but Danny's kick was cleared by the defence, before, at the other end, a last ditch tackle by Kit stopped Steven Gerrard getting clear on goal. Hayden then blocked a shot from Heskey, and Palace made their final substitution, Julian making way for Danny Granville.

His first action was to win a corner, but the delivery of the ball failed to find a Palace player, Dudek instead fisting the ball clear. A free kick delivery by Danny G found Tony, but his header bounced over the bar, and time was running desperately short. Igor Biscan replaced Diouf, and sustained pressure by Palace produced three corners, but no goals.

In the final three minutes of added on time Liverpool made their final change, Salif Alassane Diao coming on for Cheyrou, and the final attempt of the match saw Gerrard snap a shot that Alex did well to keep out. The whistle sounded, so now we travel to Anfield on 5 February, and I guess all Palace supporters will be hoping that we do a little better than when we last visited; that 5-0 drubbing really saw the start of a downhill slide for the team.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Curtis Fleming, Kit Symons, Tony Popovic, Danny Butterfield, Hayden Mullins, Shaun Derry, Julian Gray (Danny Granville 80), Tommy Black (Wayne Routledge 64), Dele Adebola (Ade Akinbiyi 73), Andrew Johnson.

Substitutes not used: Gary Borrowdale, Cedric Berthelin.

Liverpool: Chris Kirkland (Jerzy Dudek 24), Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore, John Arne Riise, Danny Murphy, Steven Gerrard, Bruno Cheyrou (Salif Alassane Diao 90), El Hadji Diouf (Igor Biscan 84), Michael Owen, Emil Heskey.

Substitutes not used: Neil Mellor, Milan Baros.

Attendance: 26,054

Referee: Mr R Styles (Hampshire)