A mighty Palace performance saw the Eagles book their place in the Carling Cup fourth round after defeating a pathetic Charlton Athletic.
Goals from Dougie Freedman and Sandor Torghelle sealed the victory for Palace, which was assured despite Torghelle’s later sending off.
Make no mistake – Charlton wanted this one badly. They named a full-strength side for the clash, with only two changes made from their team that was beaten at Anfield last weekend.
By contrast, Palace boss Iain Dowie fielded a virtual reserve team, with only Ben Watson retaining his place from Saturday’s win over West Brom. This was the opportunity for the fringe first-team players to impress and they did so in style.
Things didn’t start brilliantly for Palace, however. From the kick-off, the Eagles looked disorganised and were instantly under the cosh. Within five minutes, the ‘old-boys' curse had struck, with Herman Hreidarsson taking advantage of some slack defending to head Charlton into an early lead.
Athletic looked set to build on that lead with constant pressure for the first fifteen minutes – but after that Palace started to find their feet.
The Eagles’ gradually enjoyed greater and greater dominance, and it paid off four minutes before half time. Dougie Freedman latched onto a loose ball on the left-hand side of the box and curled a delightful chip-shot past the stranded Kiely. Palace were really in the ascendancy now, and their dominance continued into the second half.
After 54 minutes it was Torghelle’s turn to take the plaudits. He took Derry’s strong through ball onto his chest, turned, and fired a scorching low drive past Kiely from the edge of the area. Palace fans - who'd expected to see a brave, battling performance from their reserve side - were delighted to see the second-string take the lead against a Charlton team who clearly had their sights set on progressing further in the tournament.
After the goal, Palace started to sit back a little and there were worrying signs of a Charlton fight-back. Ironically, that was snuffed out when Torghelle got himself sent off in 70th minute. The Hungarian striker was already on a yellow card, and he turned that into red by attempting a ridiculous dive in an effort to win a penalty.
But following his sending off, Palace found new levels of determination and Charlton never looked like improving on a League Cup record that has seen them never progress beyond the fourth round.
The final whistle, when it came, was sweet for the Palace fans who’d made the short trip to the Valley. Not only did the Eagles put an end to Charlton’s Carling Cup aspirations, but they did it with a reserve side – and one that finished with just ten men.