Cabaye’s Christmas cracker! Crystal Palace 0-3 Newcastle

Cabaye crushes Palace
Cabaye crushes Palace
Newcastle produced a dominating performance to brush aside Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, with Yohan Cabaye proving to be instrumental in the victory.

The France international scored one and could have had a couple more with a bit more fortune as he pulled the strings in midfield.

In truth United deserved the win and the three goal margin that came with it. Crystal Palace were simply blown away in the first period and despite fighting back for a brief spell at the start of the second half they never really looked like causing Newcastle any problems.

The start of the match was rather drab with United perhaps just shading it purely through the amount of possession they managed to maintain albeit without really threatening the Crystal Palace goal.

That changed on 25 minutes though as Cheik Tiote set Moussa Sissoko free on the right.The former Toulouse man cut in and played the ball back to Cabaye who stroked the ball home via a slight deflection off Mile Jedinak.

There was a nervy moment soon after the opener however as Crystal Palace nearly equalised through a Tim Krul error. The Dutchman came to claim a cross but flapped at the ball which inadvertently bounced off Mike Williamson only for Vurnon Anita to hack clear off the line.

But that would have been harsh on Newcastle and six minutes before half-time the lead was doubled through Danny Gabbidon who turned a Mathieu Debuchy cross into his own net under slight pressure from Loic Remy.

Half-time: Crystal Palace 0-2 Newcastle

The home side rallied in the windy conditions at the start of the second period and forced a sequence of corners which were all dealt with by the United defence. However it was Cameron Jerom who blew the Eagles’ best chance of getting back into the game as he blazed an effort from seven yards over Tim Krul’s goal.

From then on the treat subsided and Newcastle became the dominant force in the match again. Hatem Ben Arfa came on and almost had an immediate impact as he dribbled into the box and laid the ball off for Yoan Gouffran who smashed an effort from 20 yards off the crossbar before the former Marseille man tested Speroni with an effort himself.

Ben Arfa wasn’t to be denied though and when Shola Amoebi was sent tumbling in the box it was Ben Arfa who struck home the resulting spot-kick to give the scoreline a more realistic reflection of how the game actually panned out.

Full-time: Crystal Palace 0-3 Newcastle

It was a good performance by us. Palace may have been struggling but they’ve been good in recent weeks and pushed Chelsea all the way at Stamford Bridge so this result, or any result away in the Premier League, is a good one. We controlled the match and 67% of the possession seems to back that up.

The win gives us 30 points prior to Christmas which is better than many of us imagined I’d think. We now have homes games against Stoke and Arsenal over the festive period to contend with. It’s early days of course, but would you bet against us having 36 points by the turn of the year the way we’re playing at the moment?

Howay the lads!

Crystal Palace: Julian Speroni, Adrian Mariappa, Danny Gabbidon, Damien Delaney, Dean Moxey, Joel Ward, Mile Jedinak, Jason Puncheon, Barry Bannan, Marouane Chamakh, Cameron Jerome

Subs: Lewis Price, Jonathan Parr, Jose Campana, Yannick Bolasie, Jonathan Williams, Kevin Phillips, Dwight Gayle

Newcastle: Tim Krul, Mathieu Debuchy, Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson, Davide Santon, Vurnon Anita, Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Moussa Sissoko, Yoan Gouffran, Loic Remy

Subs: Rob Elliot, Massadio Haidara, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Gabriel Obertan, Hatem Ben Arfa, Shola Ameobi, Papiss Cisse

Attendance: 24,936

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

169 thoughts on “Cabaye’s Christmas cracker! Crystal Palace 0-3 Newcastle

  1. True enough cuda, the transfer window will open soon… that should spoil a few good vibes 😕

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  2. Merry xmas all
    Hope we beat Stoke on boxing at the very least but would love to beat Arsenal as well. It won’t be easy but I think we have a good chance.

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  3. Well back in Toon from sunny Dubai. 3 weeks of this god awful weather!

    However, got my tickets for the Stoke match, seeing the family for 1st time in a year and all is good.

    Happy Xmas to all on the blog. Hope the mighty Toon army bring some Christmas cheer on Boxing Day

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  4. 17 games into the season.

    20 points ahead of the scum 😀

    17 points ahead of relegation 😀

    12 points ahead of mediocrity 😀

    All adds up to a merry christmas to all Toon fans.

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  5. Have a great Xmas everyone – 3 points on Boxing Day and we will be really flying who’d of thought it 😆

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  6. Merry Christmas all. Won’t be back on here this week. May all your hopes and wishes come true.

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  7. I’ve just put my little boy to bed on Christmas Eve – once I managed to peel him off the ceiling that is!.
    We opened his bedroom window and he rang his polar express bell to let Santa know he’s gone to bed.
    The look on his little face was fucking magic man.

    Football is just a game, despite how much we allow it to take over at times. It really isn’t as important as we sometimes make it.

    I wishes you all a very merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy New Year 😉

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  8. Aussie wasn’t it Christmas like three days ago down under? 🙂

    I agree mate. Its been a terrific couple of months. Been awhile since I enjoyed my footy this much. I really enjoy this group of players

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  9. Sharpy@163, That’s brilliant, it’s great when they are that age isn’t it. Hope he has a fab day and enjoys his presents from santa 😀 😎

    Funky@165, Bah Humbug. But I kinda understand as I have had 4 bad christmasses now but I’ll never give up on it, I’m a glutton for punishment. 🙄

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  10. Never have experienced a more depressing Christmas Eve in my life! what kind of place closes its bars and throws everyone out at 12 on Christmas Eve? What a joke!

    Anyhow, Merry Christmas from Sydney.

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  11. Kim – it’s class, he’s 5 in Feb and I don’t know where the times gone. He loves Thomas the tank engine so we took him to meet Santa at Thomasland in Tamworth, he could barely breath nevermind speak!.
    I’m bias but he’s mint man. Thank you and I hope you and your family have a great day. Have you got Lewis the toon samba kit yet? or is it still a no go with the Wonga logo

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