Crystal Palace - 2 (Johnson 33. 66.)
Aston Villa - 0

This was a must win game for Villa, as they needed to stay in touch with the top six, but at the same time Palace had to get a win to get their noses above the relegation zone. For some reason most Palace supporters seemed somewhat upbeat about our chances, and the first few seconds saw the team at the right end of the ground, gaining the first corner of the match.

Wayne Routledge fed the ball in, but Mark Delaney was on hand to effect the clearance, and shortly after Juan Pablo Angel fouled Michael Hughes, giving us a free kick, though the chance was wasted. Ulises De La Cruz then played the ball into our area and Gareth Barry headed the ball goalwards, Gabor Kiraly making a fine save as he caught the ball before the Palace supporters had a chance to even have a small heart flutter. Gabor also caught the next ball played in by De La Cruz.

Lee Hendrie tried a shot that was equally well stopped by Gabor before Barry had a shot that went wide of the post, and Andrew Johnson had his first chance, the ball going wide at that end too.

Barry tried again, his shot also going wide of the mark before Vassilios Lakis saw his shot deflected for a corner. The ball came back in courtesy of Wayne, and Danny Butterfield saw his shot deflected once again. Nolberto Solano took a corner at the other end and Liam Ridgewell sent his header over the top of the bar, before Gabor once again had to tip the ball over the top conceding the corner. Finally, in this short period of play Palace forced another corner, but Thomas Sorensen plucked the ball out of the air to nullify any danger to the visiting side's goalmouth.

Barry had another shot that went wide before Jlloyd Samuel saw his chance well cleared by Ben Watson. Another corner to Villa saw Angel foul Fitz Hall, thus relieving the pressure at our end. Solano got the ball back into our area, but Danny B made the clearance, followed by another corner that was easily cleared by Gabor, who was having a pretty good game.

As Palace attacked once more the ball came back to Ben, and the keeper could only parry his rasping shot, with AJ following up and burying the ball in the back of the net. 1-0 to Palace, now we only needed a second to, hopefully, take control of the game.

Ridgewell had a shot that went wide, and Samuel saw his attempt suffer the same fate before Wayne repeated the effort at the other end, his shot missing to the left of the goalpost. Hendrie also missed before Vassilios saw his header on goal well saved by the keeper. Solano fired the ball in once again, but Gabor plucked the ball out of the sky and a corner at each end saw little danger to either goal.

Angel was caught offside as the clock ran down, and before we knew it the half time whistle had sounded, and it was off for the usual pep talk from the respective managers. One can only assume that Iain Dowie would have been the happier of the two.

The second half saw Michael booked for a foul on Steven Davis, and a corner to Villa that was well diverted by Danny B. Gavin McCann was the next booked, for dissent, before Hendrie saw his shot sail over the top of the bar. The next cross in was well dealt with by Aki Riihilahti, at the expense of a corner, that Vassilios turned away from our area as De La Cruz was booked for a foul on Wayne.

A series of niggling fouls followed before Ben saw his shot miss to the right of the upright, but then Delaney fouled Vassilios in the area, and the referee had little hesitation in pointing to the spot. AJ stepped up, and duly scored, and finally we were able to rest a little easier, with a two-goal cushion.

Palace decided it was time for a change, and Mikele Leigertwood came on to replace Ben. Davis saw his shot well saved by Gabor as Villa made a change of their own, with Hendrie making way for Luke Moore. Danny Granville was then booked for a unsporting behaviour, as was Moore, and a corner to Villa saw little threat to our goal. Angel saw his shot also saved by our keeper, and Palace decided on a second change, this time Danny B being replaced by Emmerson Boyce.

His first touch of the ball was a sweet strike on goal, but the shot was wayward, missing to the right of the upright, and then Mikele tried a shot that once again sailed harmlessly over the top of the bar. AJ tried again, his shot being caught by Sorensen, Barry saw his attempt well caught by Gabor, and Vassilios was unlucky to see his attempt tipped around the post by the keeper.

As we slipped into injury time Wayne had a shot blocked by Solano, and Gabor caught the attempt from De La Cruz, and the final whistle went to signify a well deserved three points for the Eagles, and a move out of the relegation zone, at least for a couple of weeks. The FA Cup follows next week, with a tricky fixture against Sunderland, who will obviously be out for revenge for their defeat at the end of last season, and it will be interesting to see just who takes the field for that game.

In the meantime, we will bask in the glory of a period out of the zone, and all look forward to the next Premiership game against Manchester City on 15 January.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Gabor Kiraly, Danny Butterfield (Emmerson Boyce 75), Danny Granville, Fitz Hall, Darren Powell, Michael Hughes, Vassilios Lakis, Aki Riihilahti, Wayne Routledge, Ben Watson (Mikele Leigertwood 66), Andrew Johnson.

Substitutes not used: Julian Speroni, Dougie Freedman, Neil Shipperley.

Aston Villa: Thomas Sorensen, Gareth Barry, Mark Delaney, Liam Ridgewell, Jlloyd Samuel, Steven Davis, Ulises De La Cruz, Lee Hendrie (Luke Moore 66), Gavin McCann, Nolberto Solano, Juan Pablo Angel.

Substitutes not used: Stefan Postma, Mathieu Berson, Pete Whittingham, Stefan Moore.

Attendance: 24,140

Referee: Mr A D'Urso