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Crystal Palace logo
Premier League
Feb 8, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
West Brom logo

3-1

Ince (15'), Ledley (27'), Chamakh (69' pen.)
FT(HT: 2-0)
Bifouma (46')

Live Commentary: Crystal Palace 3-1 West Bromwich Albion - as it happened

Relive Sports Mole's live text commentary of the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion at Selhurst Park.
2

Crystal Palace met West Bromwich Albion in their Premier League match at Selhurst Park.

Thomas Ince gave the home side the lead early on, before he set up Joe Ledley for a second.

Thievy Bifouma pulled a goal back for West Brom at the start of the second half, but a penalty from Marouane Chamakh sealed the three points for Palace.

Read how the action unfolded below.


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Good afternoon and thank you for joining Sports Mole for live text commentary of the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion at Selhurst Park.

It could not be tighter at the bottom of the Premier League, and today's result may prove crucial to the survival of the two sides. West Brom are 16th in the league, and are one place above Palace in the table. They are both level on 23 points, with Albion's goal difference the only thing separating them.

When these two sides met in the league in November, goals from Saido Berahino and Gareth McAuley helped West Brom to a 2-0 win over Palace at The Hawthorns. They met again a month ago in the third round of the FA Cup, and on that occasion the Eagles claimed 2-0 victory.

Since Tony Pulis has taken charge, Palace have seen a drastic change in their fortunes. They are by no means out of danger, but they have given themselves a real chance of survival. Prior to last weekend's 2-0 defeat against Arsenal, they had won two consecutive Premier League matches. It would be a remarkable achievement should they stay up, having lost 10 of their first 11 league games of the season.

CRYSTAL PALACE XI: Speroni, Ward, Dann, Delaney, Ledley, Puncheon, Dikgacoi, Jedinak, Bolasie, Ince, Chamakh

WEST BROM XI: Foster, Jones, McAuley, Dawson, Ridgewell, Yacob, Mulumbu, Gera, Morrison, Brunt, Anichebe

CRYSTAL PALACE SUBS: Hennessey, Parr, Gabbidon, Bannan, Thomas, Gayle, Murray

WEST BROM SUBS: Myhill, Thievy, Berahino, Lugano, Vydra, Sinclair, Dorrans

TEAM NEWS: Palace hand debuts to Scott Dann, Joe Ledley and Thomas Ince, while striker Glenn Murray is fit again and is named on the bench. West Brom midfielder James Morrison is fit again after injury and returns to the starting XI, while new signing Thievy Bifouma is on the bench.

West Brom come into today's fixture having won just once in their last 14 matches. The last time they picked up three points, was during a 1-0 home victory over Newcastle United on New Year's Day.

A real problem for the hosts has been their lack of goals. Crystal Palace have scored a Premier League worst of 15 goals, while West Brom have found the net 28 times. It is not hard to see why they are down the bottom, as Saido Berahino and Marouane Chamakh are their club's top goalscorer in the league this season with four each.

Both teams' defensive records are fairly similar, with West Brom conceding 34 league goals this season and Palace leaking 33. The Albion defence have only kept five clean sheets, while Palace have managed seven shutouts.

West Brom lead the overall head to head records of the two sides with 19 wins from 46 meetings. Palace have claimed 14 wins, while 13 games have ended in draws.

Palace have been in impressive form at home in recent weeks and have won four of their past seven matches at Selhurst Park. They will be confident of a third successive home victory, with West Brom in particularly poor form away from The Hawthorns. Their only success on the road all season was during their stunning 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

We may well see the return of Palace striker Glenn Murray, who is available again after recovering from a cruciate ligament injury he sustained last April. He scored 30 goals in the Championship last season and has been described as being like a new signing by his manager. There will surely be a rapturous reception around Selhurst Park when he enters the action.

It will also be interesting to see how the new Palace trio of Scott Dann, Joe Ledley and Thomas Ince fare on their debuts. They were all signed on the last day of the January transfer window, and would have given fans of the club a huge boost in confidence. Many people have wondered how Ince will do in the Premier League, and a good run of form could see him included in Roy Hodgson's World Cup plans.

PREDICTION: This really is a must-win game for both teams, and a defeat could seriously dent the losing side's hopes of avoiding the drop. Palace must go into this match as favourites, due to their recent form and the fact that Albion have a poor record away from home. It will be a tight contest and could be decided by just a single goal, and I predict that the Eagles will edge this match by a 1-0 scoreline.

A win for either side today could see them jump up to 11th in the table, depending on how the other results play out. There are just six points separating Stoke City in 11th, and bottom placed Fulham, in what is turning into the closest relegation battle in Premier League history.

REFEREE: Chris Foy will be the man taking charge of today's match.

We are just 10 minutes away from kick off at Selhurst Park on another busy day of Premier League action. Fans of Palace and Albion will be closely paying attention to the results of Aston Villa's meeting with West Ham, Southampton's clash with Stoke City and the Welsh derby between Swansea City and Cardiff City later this evening.

Before this season, West Brom hadn't won in the Premier League against Palace. Their two meetings in the 2004/2005 campaign ended with a 3-0 Palace home win, and a 2-2 draw at the The Hawthorns.

The players are out and we are moments away from kick off in South London.

KICKOFF! We are underway at Selhurst Park!

The home side have begun the game on the front foot and are pressing West Brom back deep inside their own half. They almost get Ince down the right wing, but he gets the ball caught underneath his feet, and the visiting defence clear the danger.

Palace will have the first chance to get players into the box, as Ince is brought down by Yacob around 30 yards out from goal.

Ince steps up to whip the free kick into the box, but overhits the cross and it goes harmlessly out of play.

Brunt plays a wonderful ball through for Anichebe, but he can't control it and it runs through kindly for Speroni. That was a big opportunity for the striker, who did extremely well to get in behind the defence.

CHANCE! Palace almost get fortunate as a corner takes a deflection of Dann and heads goalwards, but Mulumbu is well positioned on the line for West Brom to calmly chest the ball down and clear.

The visitors are enjoying a good spell of possession and are passing the ball confidently around their midfield. It looks like that is the sort of style that Mel is trying to play and he will hope that it can help them get enough points to stay up.

GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 West Bromwich Albion (Ince)

What a start to the Palace career of Ince! After latching onto a header from Chamakh, Bolasie loses the ball on the edge of the area, but it breaks kindly to Ince, who runs through and cooly chips it over the on-rushing Foster, and into the far corner of the net.

It is all Palace following that goal, and they look a threat every time they come close to the Albion goal. They almost get in when Chamakh feeds the ball to Puncheon on the right wing, but his low cross is cut out at the front post.

West Brom have won a free kick just outside the area, on the right hand side, after Ledley brings down Anichebe.

Brunt drills the resulting set piece into the box, but his low strike is blocked by the covering Palace defence and they clear to safety.

The visitors win a corner, and it is played in by Brunt before being headed back across goal to Dawson. The centre-back swivels and gets it on his right foot, but lashes his half-volley over the bar from just inside the six-yard box.

GOAL! Crystal Palace 2-0 West Bromwich Albion (Ledley)

The home side have doubled their lead, and it's another debut goal. Ince whips in a fantastic corner from the right, and Ledley meets it in the middle with a thumping header that gives Foster no chance. What an impact the manager's deadline day signings have made!

Ince is almost through again as Chamakh chips a lovely ball over the top, but Foster rushes off his line to hammer it out of play. The Albion defence is in disarray at the moment and Pulis will surely be sensing a third goal is within the reach of his side.

The visitors win a free kick just outside the box, after Morrision is fouled by Dikgacoi. Brunt and Morrison are standing over the ball, and may fancy their chances from this range.

It is Morisson who takes the free kick, but his low strike takes a deflection of the wall, before trickling through to Speroni.

Albion have enjoyed a sustained spell of possession over the past few minutes, but they are still yet to seriously test Speroni in the Palace goal.

YELLOW CARD! Jones picks up the first booking of the afternoon following a late challenge on Ince.

The visitors start to pile on the pressure, and from a long Brunt free kick, the ball bounces around the box, before falling to Mulumbu on the edge of the box. He attempts to curl an effort into the top corner, but sees his strike take a deflection and drift over the bar.

We are going to have two minutes of stoppage time at the end of the half.

HALF-TIME: Crystal Palace 2-0 West Bromwich Albion

At the end of the first half, it is Palace who lead 2-0 against West Brom, thanks to goals from debutantes Thomas Ince and Joe Ledley. Ince in particular has looked mightily impressive and has been his team's best player on the pitch so far.

The stats show that despite Palace's lead, West Brom have enjoyed a huge 68% of the possession. They have even managed five strikes on goal, which is one more than the hosts. Just one of their attempts hit the target, and they have not looked very threatening in the final third.

Pepe Mel will surely be looking to his bench at players that could change the game. Berahino and Thievy are the forward options with goals very much the priority in the second half.

The players are back out at Selhurst Park and the second half is just moments away.

Crystal Palace kick off and get the game back underway.

DOUBLE SUBSTITUTION: West Brom have made a double change, with Sinclair and Thievy coming on for Ridgewell and Gera.

GOAL! Crystal Palace 2-1 West Bromwich Albion (Thievy)

He's been on the pitch for less than a minute, but Thievy has found the back of the net for West Brom! He plays in Anichebe down the left hand side, and receives the return pass, before rifling a strike past Speroni and into the net. That must have been some half time team talk from Mel, with his side right back in this match now!

It certainly has been a great day for players making their debuts, as all three of the scorers are making their first appearances for their clubs. Thievy can't have been on the pitch for longer than 40 seconds before his goal.

That goal has done wonders for West Brom's confidence, as they are pouring forward looking to get in behind the Palace backline. It is crucial for the hosts that they try and weather this storm and try to reassert the composure they showed in the first half.

The possession stats look like they will stay the same in this half, with West Brom still trying to play their passing game. A major difference has been getting the ball forward much quicker and closing down Palace higher up the pitch.

Anichebe and Thievy are doing a great job of closing the Palace defence down and there are some nervous faces out there now.

CHANCE! Palace win a corner, and Ince plays in a low ball, that is poked goalwards, but is scrambled clear by Jones. It comes out to Bolasie on the edge of the box, but he fires a strike high over the bar.

YELLOW CARD! Yacob is the second Albion player booked this afternoon.

CHANCE! Out of absolutely nothing, Morisson latches onto a loose ball 25 yards out from goal, and unleashes a strike that is tipped over by Speroni.

CHANCE! Speroni keeps his side ahead with another top save. The ball deflects kindly through to Sinclair, and he fires in a low shot on the half-volley, but the keeper is down quickly to block his effort, and keep hold of the ball.

PENALTY TO CRYSTAL PALACE! Chamakh is played through on goal, and takes the ball past Foster, with the keeper hacking the striker down. The referee points to the spot, but decides that Foster does not warrant a booking. He is incredibly lucky to be staying on the pitch.

GOAL! Crystal Palace 3-1 West Bromwich Albion (Chamakh)

Chamakh takes the penalty, and slots it calmly into the bottom right hand corner, with the keeper diving the wrong way.

SUBSTITUTION: West Brom make their final change, with Berahino coming on for Yacob.

SUBSTITUTION: What a great moment this is. Glenn Murray is back for Palace after recovering from a cruciate ligament injury, with Puncheon heading off.

With so many forward plays on the pitch, there are huge gaps opening up for Palace to exploit on the break. The visitors of course must throw caution to the wind, as they attempt to score two goals in the final stages.

SUBSTITUTION: Palace have made another change, as Parr comes on in place of Bolasie.

Berahino does well to win the ball by the right hand byline, but instead of looking to find someone in the middle, he attempts to score incredibly tight angle, and his strike is easily saved by Speroni.

YELLOW CARD! Brunt is booked for a crunching, late challenge from behind on Ince.

CHANCE! Morrison is slipped in down the left side of the box, and he attempts to curl an effort past the keeper, but hits the strike straight at Speroni.

CHANCE! Anichebe blows a big opportunity! He latches onto a long ball, before bursting through to the edge of the box, but when faced with just the keeper to beat, he hammers a shot high over the bar.

SUBSTITUTION: The home side make their final change of the afternoon, as Thomas replaces Chamakh.

CHANCE! West Brom are pushing hard for a goal, as firstly Anichebe fires a ball into the middle that is blocked by the keeper, before the rebound falls to Jones, who sees his low effort saved at the near post by Speroni.

It looks like Palace may have done enough to see this game out, as West Brom seem to have run out of ideas.

Jedinak attempts a long-range drive from fully 30 yards, but his low strike is hit straight into the hands of Foster, who keeps hold of the ball well.

CHANCE! Albion almost score a bizarre second, as from a corner kick, the ball is smashed against Berahino, and it deflects just wide of the post.

There are going to be three minutes of stoppage time.

FULL-TIME: Crystal Palace 3-1 West Bromwich Albion

The referee brings the game to an end, and it is a huge win for Crystal Palace. They have moved above West Brom in the table, and have made it three consecutive home league wins.

Tony Pulis will have been delighted at how his new signings fared, especially Thomas Ince, who was impressive from the start. Their hopes of Premier League survival have received a huge boost, but West Brom will have to improve drastically if they are to stay up.

That's all we've got time for here. Please stay with us as we bring you all of the latest results and news from this afternoon's games. Until next time, goodbye!

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New West Bromwich Albion manager Pepe Mel faces the media before the press conference to announce his arrival, at The Hawthorns on January 16, 2014
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