Player Ratings: Crystal Palace 1-1 Fulham

Here are the individual scores after an entertaining draw at Selhurst Park.

Fulham started 2026 with a very decent point on the road at Selhurst Park and can maybe be a bit gutted they didn’t come away with all three. A beauty from Tom Cairney cancelled out a potentially controversial opener from Venagboys’ favourite Mateta. It extends our unbeaten run on the road in the Premier League ahead of two huge home fixtures against Liverpool and a managerless club in crisis from round the corner.

Bernd Leno

More than decent enough from a shot-stopping perspective. Made quite a few regulation saves but most important was his denial of Marc Guehi’s close range strike on the half an hour mark in which Leno spread himself well to deny the England international. Whilst I am left to be convinced of Leno’s distribution, I liked the intensity with which he kept starting attacks as quickly as possible in the second half as we looked to get our fair share of the spoils. 7/10

Kenny Tete

Praying this muscle injury isn’t too serious, but unfortunately those injuries and unreliability fitness wise are almost as symbolic of Tete’s game as his actual abilities as a full-back. Had an unbelievably good half volley dip just over the bar just past the half-hour mark and got forward well in general. Really weak defending for Mateta’s goal, sort of gives him a tiny push before leaving him free to head home, frustratingly. 6/10

Joachim Andersen

Thought Andersen was really poor. Defensively I thought he struggled the most of the two centre-halves at dealing with the physical threat of Mateta. His passing felt especially poor in the ground, with a number of long passes going over the top of Jimenez to absolutely nobody. While he was on the turn and on the volley, his miss with almost the last kick of the game was a shocker too. 4.5/10

Jorge Cuenca

Defensively, I thought Cuenca was decent enough. Didn’t seem to struggle massively against Mateta and frequently read the game well. The way the Palace goal panned out leaves him with some blame, not for being hit in the face but for the naivety, the players know going down holding their face will get the game stopped and that they’ll be off for 30 seconds, so that was frustrating. Lost his head slightly up until half-time but regrouped well in the second half. 6/10

Antonee Robinson

Another that I didn’t think had the most convincing display. The defending to allow 72-year-old (approximately) Nathaniel Clyne skin him to then assist Palace’s goal was typical of a full-back who looked a bit all over the place at both ends of the pitch in that first half. In the second half he looked a bit more fluid, providing more of an attacking threat and putting a few decent crosses in, including one for Raul that hit the post, but I just was never convinced by him throughout, certainly not like I have been with Sess earlier in the season. 5/10

Sander Berge

Thought Berge was as good as anyone in the first half. It was his ball carrying abilities in full flow that was particularly impressive, constantly getting the ball in the Palace half and driving us forward, if only he did that more often (that said the one time he entered the final third his cross went straight into the stand, ideal that). Didn’t think he was as impactful second half as we pushed for a goal which is probably why he was replaced for TC rather than Sasa. 6.5/10

Sasa Lukic

Thought his performance was the opposite to Berge. First half was just frustrating. As much as there is an appreciation of his yellow card-accumulating abilities it is just annoying that he doesn’t seem to know how to time a simple tackle, and it nearly cost us in the first half when he tripped Will Hughes right on the edge of the box. Second half he was far better, covering the hard yards next to Cairney and getting forward whenever possible on and off the ball. 6.5/10

Harry Wilson

Unfortunately this was typical Harry Wilson. When you’re mostly a moments player - and I don’t feel too harsh saying that - you need to still perform beyond those moments, and often Wilson doesn’t and goes missing in games. He was really poor at Selhurst. In the first half I don’t know if he completed a forward pass, instead he was firing passes back at Leno for no clear reason. Had zero impact in the final third and was lucky to get 84 minutes and not to be subbed off a long time before hand. 4/10

Emile Smith Rowe

Now Smith Rowe’s finally got a run of games and a run of good form he seems to recognise his own importance to the team. The intensity with which he’s making runs between the lines and collecting the ball all around the pitch to impact the game continues to impress. With an injury to Josh King, we can only hope that form and confidence continues. Three key passes was the most of anyone and seemed to come so nonchalantly to him in the way in which he creates opportunities so subtly. 7/10

Kevin

Truly grew into the game and was as impactful as anyone else in the second half. First half he played a couple of dodgy backward passes that nearly put Palace in on goal, but when he focused on going forwards he was borderline mesmerising. Clyne could not get near him in the second half, every time Kevin stood him up you knew he would beat his man on either side. He completed more dribbles and more crosses than any other Fulham player, showing he was having an impact with the ball on a frequent basis. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: one goal and the boy will fly. 7/10

Raul Jimenez

Watching Raul close up as I did near the front of the away end, you truly appreciate his genius. Sometimes a ball comes to him, back to goal, near the halfway line, seemingly with nobody around, but with one touch Raul has set somebody off on an attack with a flick round the corner. He does the work of a whole front three the way he runs around the opposition half picking the ball up everywhere and winning more second balls than anyone else. He was so unlucky not to score with his headed effort in the second half hitting the post, as well as his rebounded effort in the first half just passing the post. The way he uses his body to get round defenders with balls over the top… I could marvel for ages about his intelligence, he’s just a superb footballer who has re-found incredible form in his mid-30s after his head injury, he deserves so much admiration. 8/10 – man of the match

Substitutes

Timothy Castagne

Came on for the vast majority of the second half for the injured Tete. If you thought the praise for Raul was an enjoyable read, buckle in, because this will be the opposite. The drop off from Tete to him was so evident. The positioning was constantly terrible. Sometimes Palace were playing balls into his area and he was miles away leaving others to cover Pino who is always dangerous. Often Lukic/Cairney looked over to his side in attacking scenarios and he just stood still refusing to run beyond the full back. And that miss in added time? No words. He’s a professional footballer, you cannot give the goalkeeper a save to make from there. Completely let his side down. Had he played that way for a full 90 this would be an even smaller score. 3/10

Tom Cairney

A much more positive influence off the bench. Unlike Berge at the time, Cairney buzzed around the midfield, asking for the ball every single time we got it. He pulled strings better than a seasoned ukulele player, getting the ball forward at every opportunity. His finish for the equaliser gets better every time you watch it in the way he controls a powerful half volley so well into the left corner beyond multiple defenders and the diving Henderson. 10 more years, etc. 8/10

Adama Traore and Harrison Reed on too late to be fairly assessed.

Marco Silva

Don’t think there was too much to complain about here. First half I felt we were in control for most of the game. The build up was nice but often too slow but that was changed in the second half after we’d gone behind. The decision to bring on Cairney for Berge to get on the ball more and push us forward was a genius piece of thinking and almost single-handedly earned us our point. Maybe would have subbed off Cuenca when he lost his head following his yellow card and the Palace goal but the trust shown in him paid off over the 90 minutes. Ultimately the reason we didn’t get the three points was poor finishing at the end and a lack of defending for their goal. The game plan and players put out on the pitch deserved three points, so props to Marco for that. 8/10