Monday 26 December 2016 18:30, UK
Crystal Palace were held to a 1-1 draw by Watford in Sam Allardyce's first game in charge.
The former England manager, who replaced Alan Pardew on Friday, watched as Yohan Cabaye gave Palace a deserved first-half lead, only for Christian Benteke to miss a penalty before Troy Deeney netted Watford's equaliser from the spot after the break.
It was a frustrating outcome for Allardyce after such a dominant first-half performance, but were there positives for the new man in charge? Here, we look at Palace's areas of improvement…
In the build-up to his first Palace game in the dugout, Allardyce spoke at length about the lack of confidence in the squad he inherited from Alan Pardew. The out-of-form Eagles had lost eight of their last 10 Premier League games, and the new manager's first task was to boost their self-belief.
Confidence can't be fully restored overnight, but Palace's first-half performance provided clues that Allardyce is already making a difference. The Eagles started the game purposefully, pinning the hosts in their own half and causing problems on both flanks without exposing themselves defensively.
Andros Townsend was the most obviously improved player. The England international fell out of favour under Pardew, but he was reintroduced to the starting line-up at Vicarage Road and he repaid Allardyce's faith with his best performance in a Palace shirt.
Townsend was desperate to get on the ball at every opportunity, and his assist for Cabaye's opening goal was an outstanding piece of individual play. The winger won possession himself before racing away from a crowd of yellow shirts and slipping the ball through for his team-mate to do the rest.
Cabaye was another player who played with the kind of swagger he has lacked at times this season. The Frenchman's touches came in more advanced positions than any of his fellow midfielders, according to Opta, and that licence to attack paid off when he beat the offside trap to score the goal.
Benteke may have ultimately made the headlines for the wrong reasons, but he also played with extra motivation. According to Premier League tracking data, he made more sprints in the first half (41) than he did in the whole of Palace's 1-0 loss to Chelsea before Christmas.
Palace's drop-off after the Belgian's missed penalty showed they are still prone to letting their heads drop, but Allardyce was pleased by what he saw. "The first half performance was very encouraging indeed," he said. "The sad thing was that we weren't 2-0 up at least. It could have been more."
Only Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham scored more goals than Palace in the first 17 games of the Premier League season, but their expansive style under Pardew came at a heavy cost, with only Hull and Swansea conceding more times as they were carved open far too easily
The dreadful record was one of the primary reasons Palace turned to Allardyce. The 62-year-old has an excellent track record for whipping teams into shape and reorganising defences, and Palace certainly showed signs of improvement at the back at Vicarage Road.
With a midfield of Mathieu Flamini, Cabaye and Jason Puncheon providing cover for the back four, Palace limited Watford to only a single shot on goal in the first half. Even after the break, when Watford were the dominant force, Palace generally succeeded in keeping them at arm's length.
Allardyce rued the "soft penalty" for Deeney's equaliser, but Palace only faced three shots on target over the course of the 90 minutes - the joint-fewest they have managed in any Premier League game this season. For the first time in recent memory, Palace's opponents rarely looked like scoring from open play.
Palace defended strongly from set-pieces too, and a deeper look at the stats shows how Allardyce tried to get the Eagles back to basics. Rather than playing out from the back, Palace cleared their lines at every opportunity, making 45 clearances in total - nine more than in any other game this season.
"Of course I was looking forward to that very important clean sheet today," Allardyce told Sky Sports. "But if we keep that sort of performance up, hopefully we'll turn draws into victories."
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