The defeat means Palace end the year just outside the play off places. Following on from the victory over Norwich it was disappointing not to get anything from the match. The action apeared to continue after the 90 mins as well. A rumpus in the tunnel was commented on by both managers.
City boss Gary Johnson said: "Some of the players had handbags for Christmas and were anxious to show them off.
"You have to be prepared to battle with Palace for 90 minutes and right until you reach the dressing rooms.
"No one wanted to be a shrinking violet. We were strong in the game from the first whistle and that pleased me as much as anything."
Palace manager Neil Warnock was unusually restrained about the tunnel incident.
"I think one of their players decided to throw a bottle in the direction of Nick Carle and I was hoping he would chest it down," he said.
"I just got in between people and it was soon all over. I just wished the stewarding was better here because I seem to get assaulted every time I come, either on the pitch or off it!
"Seriously, I have no complaints. We had a poor first half hour and I feared we might be overrun. I was pleased to get in at half-time only 1-0 down.
"But we had chances in the second half and you could see they haven't been doing well at home by the celebrations at the end."
Attention now turns to the FA Cup and Palace's trip to the Walkers Stadium on Saturday to face Leicester City.