At 76, Roy Hodgson has been around the football block a few times but hearing how goalkeeper Vicente Guaita had answered the tweet from Crystal Palace account’s listing Saturday’s XI, half an hour before kick-off, with “where is my name?” was a new one on him.
Guaita is out of favour after refusing to play in pre-season so who he was blaming is a puzzle. And, given how rarely Sam Johnstone was troubled, Guaita missed an easy outing, as this contest was decided by an Odsonne Édouard strike. He stuck a boot out to poke past Wes Foderingham, Sheffield United’s goalkeeper, after Jordan Ayew dropped a shoulder to gain a yard on Ben Osborn before whipping over a classic slicing cross from the right.
