Mid-table melancholia grips Selhurst as Palace and Bournemouth play out drabbest of draws

Selhurst in the sun was not exactly a bowl of Cherries : Picture by @YTJourno

Crystal Palace (0) 0 Richards s/o 45

Bournemouth (0) 0

A game of startling mediocrity got the controversy it badly needed to at least give us something to talk about - but not the sort that Palace fans will have enjoyed.

Their blood was boiling as they fell foul of some shocking inconsistency from ref Ram Barrott. Chris Richards picked up a second yellow card for a pretty innocuous foul on half way with Justin Kluivert while both Alex Scott and Tyler Adams escaped when they could easily - and surely should - have been given second cards for challenges they made.

Cherries boss Andoni Iraola knew both of his lucky players were on tightropes after their misdemeanours and he withdrew both to avoid giving the struggling official the chance to even up the numbers.

Richards was the third Eagles player to be sent off in four games.

The game was so scrappy and muddled that it fully merited the scoreline it got - a repeat of the 0-0 played out between the teams at the Vitality Stadium earlier this season.

Oliver Glasner's men had less need of the points than the Cherries, who are still chasing a European spot, but the Palace boss picked a strong side - perhaps hoping to recover some form ahead of next weekend's Wembley FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa.

He was probably looking for a reset after seeing his side uncharacteristically ship 10 goals last week on their travels to Man City and Newcastle but the quality was absent on a dire afternoon of football.

Anytime anyone had the audacity to show a bit of skill to work some space they were promptly fouled. The yellow cards flowed. There would be nine in all, five for Palace, with Richards accounting for two.

Bournemouth were the team on top for most of the second half as they tried to make their extra man advantage count but did not find it easy to break down the Palace rearguard - at times looking as one-paced as any mid-table team with nothing to play for might.

Evanilson went close(ish) with a back header that floated just wide but considering they had more than a dozen shots at goal, there was not much to show for it. Palace hardly got forward at all as they settled into a defensive holding pattern. Edge of the seat stuff it was not.

The hope must be that we see more of the attacking side in their nature against Arsenal in the midweek trip ahead of the showdown with Villa.

Eagles: (3-4-2-1) Henderson - Richards, Lacroix, Guehi - Munoz, Wharton (Kamada 76), Hughes, Mitchell - Sarr (Devenny 90), Eze (Lerma h/t) - Mateta (Nketiah 76)

Cherries: (4-2-3-1) Kepa - Smith (Araujo 84), Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez - Scott (Cook h/t ), Adams (Tavernier 61) - Semenyo, Kluivert, Ouattara (Brooks 69) - Evanilson

Attendance: 25,186