Crystal Palace - 1 (Routledge 41.)
Norwich City - 0
Palace kicked off in the first half, against the wind, and the first pressure came as Andy Johnson forced Jason Shackell to kick the ball out of play as our frontman bore down towards the goal. Danny Butterfield was fouled by Shackell, resulting in a free kick that was taken close to the corner flag; but the cross was easily cleared by Ian Henderson. Mikele then stopped a good run by ex-Palace player Mathias Svensson, and shortly after Darren Huckerby was caught offside.
Tony Popovic was then guilty of pulling Svensson back, by the shirt, and Phillip Mulryne took the free kick quickly, the ball going just wide of the upright. Palace won a corner off another ex-Palace player in the form of Mark Edworthy, but again the chance was wasted.
Danny B took a throw-in that was flicked on by Neil Shipperley, and as AJ scuffed his shot, playing the ball straight to the keeper everyone was left wondering why he did not put a simple pass through to Julian Gray, who was well placed to finish the move. Michael Hughes almost got on the end of a cross into the centre from Danny B, but Robert Green just managed to get to the ball first.
A free kick saw Julian do well to get the ball back into the centre, but the Palace attack was missing, though an appeal for a handball incident against Edworthy was waved away by the referee. Neil released AJ, but the keeper was quick to come off his line to block the chance, and then Wayne Routledge was marginally offside just when it looked as if he might have sprung the trap. Another corner to Palace resulted in Malky Mackay getting a late clearance in, and he blasted the ball clear.
AJ and Mackay clashed, but following treatment both were back up playing again, and then Neil was tripped by Mackay resulting in a free kick some 30 yards directly out from goal. Danny B slipped the ball to Michael, and his shot through the melee of players went just wide of the post. Julian then had to get back quickly to stop a forward move by Huckerby before Mackay conceded a corner under pressure from AJ. Once again the corner was cleared by the rather impressive Norwich defence, and following a foul on Neil the free kick was met by Tony, who hit a defender with his shot and the ball rolled clear for yet another corner.
Julian put the corner kick in, Wayne crossed the ball to a waiting Mark, and his header was pushed over the top. Quite simply the defence cleared the follow-up corner though, before Tony fouled Huckerby, the chance being wasted by our visitors as the ball went out for a throw to Palace. Huckerby raced into the box only to be robbed by good defending from Danny B, and then Mikele sent a great through ball to AJ, who was brought down by Mackay. The free kick was headed clear by the defence, and Huckerby was finally booked, this time for a foul on Danny B.
As half time was starting to approach a good pass from Mark found Julian out on the wing, and he found Tony who headed the ball on to Wayne, and a magnificent shot flew into the back of the net to open the scoring for Crystal Palace. A series of niggling fouls followed, and before we knew where we were the board was being held up to signify 2 minutes of added on time. A heart-stopping moment did occur at the end of that time as Nico dropped the ball, but an ever-alert Tony kicked the ball against one of the Norwich players, and the ball sailed harmlessly out for a goal kick.
The half time pep talk would have been just that little bit sweeter, as though Norwich had seen a few half-chances they had never really threatened our goal, and we did at least have the advantage of the solitary goal of the match, and the wind at our backs for the rest of the match. Iain Dowie would surely have been pleased with the performance, and as long as the defence held firm we looked assured of the three valuable points.
Norwich made one change for the second half, bringing on Kevin Cooper for Henderson. Norwich got the game underway once more, but it was Palace that immediately raced up the other end, AJ getting the ball to Wayne, and though the defence managed to block the shot AJ got back on the ball, but his shot was deflected by Mackay, and Green thankfully held on to the ball. Mulryne fouled Michael, but the free kick was once again wasted by Palace, and suddenly Huckerby got free and got the ball into the centre only to see Cooper have a shot that was deflected behind for a corner.
That chance was easily cleared by the Palace defence, and shortly after Michael did well to stop Huckerby as he raced towards goal. Michael then fed the ball to Danny Granville, but a foul by Mikele on Cooper broke the move down, and it was Julian who stopped the next forward move from Cooper. Mikele then blocked the next move as Mulryne was looking to centre the ball, and Norwich decided on another change, this time replacing Paul McVeigh with yet another ex-Palace player, Leon McKenzie.
Wayne sent in a cross that was just too deep for Julian to get on the end of, and then Julian won yet another corner for Palace. This attempt saw Neil head the ball over the top of the crossbar, and as Norwich rushed the ball down to the other end of the field Tony was booked for a poor tackle on Cooper. Mikele made a good forward move, but Wayne, who was going to be the target of his pass, was pulled down by Mulryne, who was lucky not to get a second yellow (and thus automatic red) card from the referee.
Svensson got a good shot on goal that Nico did well to get down to, and then McKenzie was caught offside, not once, but twice. Norwich decided to make their final change for the match, which seemed a little premature as there was still some 18 minutes of normal time to run, but they replaced Shackell with Iwan Roberts. Thank goodness they had run out of ex-Palace players!
Neil sent a shot wide of the posts, and then AJ pulled the ball just wide once more when it looked far easier to score than miss. AJ then got the ball to Michael, but his shot went straight to the keeper, and then AJ got another cross in, but the Palace players were not in evidence, and the chance once again went begging. A couple of corners to Palace followed, resulting in Mark getting a header in that, unfortunately, went straight to the keeper; and then Julian tried a shot, that looked like a mirror image of AJ's earlier attempt, he really should have played the ball to AJ who was in a much better position to score.
A free kick to Norwich saw the Palace defence move forward as one, catching the attacking players offside to relieve the pressure, but Norwich came close shortly after, as it seemed no-one could get a clear shot on goal, and finally Mikele cleared the danger. McKenzie fired a shot that went straight to Nico, and a corner to Norwich was well cleared by Julian, back as usual helping out the defence. Craig Fleming nearly got clear, but his effort was blocked, conceding a corner, and it was Danny G who cleared the incoming ball for Palace, booting the ball well out of the area.
Julian was caught offside, and as the free kick was taken the board came out once more, this time signifying 4 minutes of injury time to be played. Cooper tried a long-range shot that went well wide of the mark, and then Neil went down injured, resulting in a last moment replacement for Palace, Dougie Freedman coming on to replace him. Norwich tried once more, but Nico held on well to the shot, and the final whistle sounded to rapturous applause from the Palace fans.
The top team in the League had been beaten, we now all looked forward to the journey to face the second placed team next week; West Bromwich Albion.
Colin Pryce
Crystal Palace: Nico Vaesen, Danny Butterfield, Tony Popovic, Mark Hudson, Danny Granville, Michael Hughes, Julian Gray, Mikele Leigertwood, Wayne Routledge, Andrew Johnson, Neil Shipperley (Dougie Freedman 90).
Substitutes not used: Cedric Berthelin, Tommy Black, Gary Borrowdale, Shaun Derry.
Norwich City: Robert Green, Mark Edworthy, Malky Mackay, Craig Fleming, Jason Shackell (Iwan Roberts 72), Phillip Mulryne, Gary Holt, Paul McVeigh (Leon McKenzie 61), Ian Henderson (Kevin Cooper 46), Darren Huckerby, Mathias Svensson.
Substitutes not used: Damien Francis, Paul Crichton.
Attendance: 23,798
Referee: Mr P Durkin