Kagisho Dikgacoi scored the winner for Crystal Palace (PFA)
Crystal Palace took a nice win away from The Valley today as they bested Charlton Athletic in a hotly contested South London Derby. It was Palace's first League win as visitors to Charlton since 1989.
There were quite a few good chances for both sides in the first half, and the first fell to Palace. In the 6th minute Wilfried Zaha played a nice little ball to Palace's Kagisho Dikgacoi in space, but the midfielder sent his shot just over the bar to the relief of the home fans.
However Zaha continued to be a pain for the Charlton defense in the 11th minute. He slipped his marker and got a shot off of a rebound from Glenn Murray's effort. It looked to be headed for the back of the net as the Charlton 'keeper was beaten, but Charlton had a defender well stationed, and he managed to clear the ball off of the line to keep the match even.
Charlton had some chances as well, and they looked to have taken the lead on 32 minutes. Lawrie Wilson sent a delightful free kick into the Palace area and Bradley Wright-Phillps headed the ball into the net to seemingly make it 1-0. However, we was judged to have been offside and the goal was ruled out. On first glance at the replay it looked have been the correct call, however one of the Palace defenders had fallen down, and looked to be playing Wright-Phillips on.
The teams emerged from the locker rooms still level at 0-0 after halftime, but Palace looked to be keen to take the lead, which they did in the 52nd minute. Damien Delaney headed a Palace corner kick back toward the back of the box to a waiting Dikgacoi. The South African international calmly chested the ball onto his feet and deposited a brilliant volley into the net to make it 0-1 to Crystal Palace. It really was an impressive finish.
After the Palace goal Charlton started to throw men forward in search of an equalizer and got a couple of really good looks. On 83 minutes Wilson dropped a ball to Ricardo Fuller unmarked in the box, however the Jamaican smacked his shot wide. They also had a really good look late in stoppage time. They brought 'keeper Ben Hamer up on a corner kick, and he slipped in behind Palace unnoticed. He actually rose and got his head to the ball, ripping it on goal. However Owen Garvan cleared the ball away from the line and Palace preserved the 0-1 win.
The win lifts Crystal Palace out of the bottom 3 to 14th. Newly promoted Charlton sits on 18th early in the season.
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