Crystal Palace beat Norwich City 1-0 at Selhurst Park on Saturday as the Eagles finally secured their first win of 2016 in the Premier League.
The game winning moment arrived in the second half as Jason Puncheon curled in the winner, but Norwich had plenty of chances to score in an end-to-end game in south London.
With the win Alan Pardew’s side move to 37 points, while Alex Neil’s Norwich remain just outside the bottom three on 31 points.
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Palace started brightly with Yannick Bolasie racing down the wing and his cross couldn’t quite find Dwight Gayle, then Puncheon missed an absolute sitter.
Norwich started decently but all of the big chances were falling to Palace.
Dieurmerci Mbokani blocked Yohan Cabaye’s goalbound effort amid plenty of bodies in the box as the Canaries were hanging on.
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Norwich felt they should have had a penalty kick as Matt Jarvis latched onto a loose ball in the box and collided with Damien Delaney but referee Michael Oliver waved away the calls.
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In the second half Palace started well and should’ve been ahead as a corner was flapped at by John Ruddy under pressure from Mile Jedinak but Scott Dann somehow fired over the bar at the back post.
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Palace finally took the lead in the 68th minute as Puncheon cut inside and curled home into the bottom corner. 1-0.
26 - Jason Puncheon has ended a run of 26 Premier League games without scoring. Breakthrough.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 9, 2016
Moments later Wayne Hennessey saved superbly from Ryan Bennett’s free kick and Robbie Brady’s shot was blocked brilliantly by Pape Souare.
Wilfried Zaha had a drilled shot saved by Ruddy as the game opened up late on, with Yannick Bolasie having a shot cleared off the line by Jonny Howson.
Norwich pushed for an equalizer late on with Bennett again going close, but they couldn’t find one as Alex Neil’s side lost for the first time in four games.