Crystal Palace provided their supporters with a late Christmas present on Boxing Day thanks to an injury time winner away at Aston Villa.
Dwight Gayle, on as a seventy-second minute substitute, curled an excellent shot past Villa keeper Guzan and into the top right corner, after breaking one on one up against Fabian Delph from an excellent through ball.
The result lifts Palace out of the relegation zone on goal difference ahead of Fulham, who picked up three points away at Norwich. Sunderland were also successful away from home, making the gap between the bottom eight clubs just six points.
It could certainly be an interesting second half of the season with the way things are going. Palace go to Manchester City in two days time and understandably are massive underdogs. Any sort of a result would be a big achievement, but just as importantly on that day are some of the other match-ups. West Ham host West Brom, Hull welcome Fulham, and Sunderland travel to Cardiff.
These could certainly throw up some interesting results in the relegation battle, and with Palace then playing host to Norwich on New Years day the games against rivals keep on coming.
Those looking at the possession stats of the Villa game would see this as a smash and grab, and some in the national media have described it as such. However it is clear just by looking at the shot count if you weren’t at the game that Palace created the more telling opportunities and were unlucky not to win by more, particularly with Guzan stopping Barry Bannan making a goal-scoring return.
The win will give everyone involved with the club a boost, and seeing the Eagles out of the relegation zone will also create positivity. Despite the next opposition and whatever other results may occur, the victory emphasises Palace’s capabilities to make a good go of it in the Premier League, and Gayle’s strike will give him further confidence as he looks to find his feet.
Daniel Smith - @dmsmith1987