Crystal Palace 2-0 Burnley: Andros Townsend worldy secures comfortable win for Eagles

Palace finally recorded a home win and goal from open play as they saw off a poor Burnley side 2-0 at Selhurst Park to move clear of the bottom three.

Roy Hodgson kept the same team which had performed brilliantly at Manchester United a week prior and were unlucky not to leave with all three points.

Burnley boss Sean Dych, meanwhile, made two changes from the defeat at Newcastle on Monday. Johann Berg Gudmundsson returned from illness to replace Robbie Brady while Jeff Hendrick came in for Sam Vokes.

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Palace started very brightly, spurred on by the returning Holmesdale Fanatics in the corner of the ground having won their ‘lobbying’ with the club to move more centrally next season.

Cheikhou Kouyate was inches away from putting the Eagles ahead and scoring a much needed first goal from open play at Selhurst this season but he needed boots about two sizes bigger to be able to connect with Wilf Zaha’s excellent low fizzes cross.

Max Meyer, searching for his first goal in red and blue, then forced Joe Hart into an excellent save low down to his left as he tipped the German’s curling effort round the post.

That pressure finally turned into a goal on the quarter-hour mark as Meyer looked to have timed his run to perfection to meet James McArthur’s in-swinging cross.

The goal was announced as McArthur’s although replays suggested Meyer may have got the slighted of touches, either way it was no less than Palace deserved for their efforts and no-one inside Selhurst cared; they had finally scored a goal in open play at home this season.

Meyer nearly got a goal of his own when he curled a left-footed effort just wide before a fierce Milivojevic volley was deflected over, as Palace ended the first half as strongly as they started it.

The second half was all Palace as they poured forward looking for a second. Zaha hit the bar and almost everyone had a chance to put the game to bed but that elusive second just wouldn’t come.

That was until Townsend picked out the top corner with an absolute worldy that brought the house down with about 15 minutes to go so complete the most one-sided 2-0 victory the Premier League has seen for some time.

Ashley Barnes managed to miss from two yards out late on to compound Burnley’s misery as they left having managed not to hit the target all afternoon.

The result leaves the Clarets in the bottom three but sees Palace just out of the danger zone and up to 14th on 12 points with some very winnable games coming up before Christmas.