Bradley Johnson fires Norwich in front
A Jason Puncheon penalty gave Crystal Palace a 1-1 draw against a 10-man Norwich City side at an almost unbearably wet and windy Selhurst Park. Norwich had taken the lead through Bradley Johnson but Leroy Fer gave away a penalty and was later sent off for a second yellow card.
The game started off in a scrappy manner, with neither side really looking likely to break the deadlock. Norwich’s Bradley Johnson came close with a header from a Robert Snodgrass free-kick that went just wide but, on the whole, it was a slow start.
Norwich City took the lead with a lovely goal from Bradley Johnson after Gary Hooper’s pull-back fell to the former Leeds man and he smashed in from the edge of the area, off of the post and in, 35 minutes into the game.
Then, the game burst into life. First, Marouane Chamakh raised his hands to Norwich playmaker Wes Hoolahan and could have quite easily seen red for the incident. An angry Hoolahan then reacted to Chamakh, which led to referee Mike Dean giving both players a yellow card.
Three minutes later, Palace were awarded a penalty as Leroy Fer brought down Palace midfielder Mile Jedinak following a corner and Jason Puncheon, on loan from Southampton, sent John Ruddy the wrong way with the resulting spot-kick.
After half time, Palace went all out in search of a winner that would have seen them move above their opponents in the table. However, despite their best efforts, they were unable to fashion a real opportunity to do so. Puncheon tested Ruddy twice from distance, but there was no guilt-edge opportunity for the hosts despite having the majority of the territory and possession.
Gary Hooper did have a good chance for the visitors, but his turn and shot was tame and easy for Palace ‘keeper Julian Speroni to gather. Hooper is Norwich’s top scorer with seven in all competitions, but the ex-Celtic striker has now gone two games without a goal.
Norwich midfielder Leroy Fer was then sent off for a second bookable offence in the 82nd minute, and the Dutch international was somewhat fortunate to have not been shown a that second yellow earlier in the game as he appeared to take a dive just outside the Palace area, looking for a free-kick.
This invited yet more Palace pressure but, despite all their efforts, they were unable to find the chance for a winning goal as Norwich closed out the game. The draw was a far-from-ideal result for either side, but Norwich will probably be happier with the result considering the circumstances as Palace dropped back into the bottom three after Fulham’s win over West Ham.
Lineups: Palace: Speroni, Mariappa, Ward, Gabbidon, Delaney, Dikagcoi (Parr, 45′), Jedinak, Puncheon, Bolasie (Williams, 80′), Chamakh (Gayle, 62′) Subs not used: Phillips, Moxey, Price, Bannan
Norwich: Ruddy, Whittaker, Turner (R Bennett, 54′), Bassong, Olsson, Snodgrass, Johnson, Fer, Redmond, Hoolahan (Elmander, 69′), Hooper (Martin, 85’) Subs not used: Bunn, van Wolfswinkel, Becchio, Josh Murphy.
Under The Floodlights 