- Palace, Swans staying up
- Hull going down
- Ranocchia’s early error dooms Hull
Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke clinched Premier League safety for Crystal Palace and Swansea City on Sunday, their first half goals enough to send Hull City down in a 4-0 win at Selhurst Park.
Luka Milivojevic converted a late penalty and Patrick van Aanholt scored on the edge of stoppage time to seal the win.
Hull has 34 points, four behind Swans and seven back of Palace.
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Ranocchia’s colossal error made it 1-0 within the first two minutes, his swing and miss at a Michael Dawson back pass allowed Zaha -- of all people! -- in one-on-one with Eldin Jakupovic. The star keeper didn’t have much of a chance.
The desperation clicked up a notch for Hull, but good chances failed to materialize as the game neared the half-hour mark. Alfred N’Diaye blazed a shot over the bar, but it was mainly Palace’s advantage in class on display.
Jason Puncheon’s 34th minute corner saw Benteke power past Harry Maguire to head home, and Hull was in a lot of trouble.
Palace should’ve conceded a penalty within minutes of the second goal when Puncheon handled Kamil Grosicki’s free kick, but Martin Atkinson didn’t see the offense.
The second half was cagey, as Palace set back to hit on the counter. Andros Townsend was particularly effective in his defensive responsibilities.
Palace wrote its safe status in ink when Dawson took down Jeffrey Schlupp and Milivojevic sent Jakupovic the wrong way. Van Aanholt took a pass from James McArthur to make it 4-0 as the match his stoppage time.
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15 - Christian Benteke has scored 15 PL goals this season; the most since 2012-13, his debut campaign in English football (19). Mojo.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 14, 2017
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