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Crystal Palace climbed into the top half of the Premier League after easing to victory against Norwich at Selhurst Park.
Three first-half goals from Odsonne Edouard, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jeffrey Schlupp condemned the Canaries to the foot of the table at the end of 2021.
The visitors started brightly but found themselves a goal down after eight minutes when Kenny McLean fouled Will Hughes in the area and Edouard converted from the spot for his first goal since October.
Palace took charge from there with Hughes their driving force. He sprung forward and slipped in Mateta, who could only find the side-netting.
Mateta made it 2-0 with his first goal of the season seven minutes before half-time. Edouard pulled out to the left and played in a low cross that Mateta placed past Angus Gunn with superb precision.
Just seconds earlier, Jacob Sorensen squandered a superb chance for Norwich at the other end, and four minutes later, Schlupp added a third with a powerful finish from a tight angle.
Sam Byram clipped the top of the crossbar with a header in stoppage time, but Norwich’s defensive issues had already given them a mountain to climb.
Gunn did his best to keep the score down with an excellent double save to deny Schlupp and then Mateta in the second half, while Vicente Guaita was forced into rare action by a Przemyslaw Placheta strike.
Canaries struggling badly at both ends
Norwich boss Dean Smith knew how difficult the job would be when he arrived at Carrow Road in November, but his side appear devoid of any inspiration at the moment.
There were good spells of possession, particularly early on, and a couple of half chances, but Palace were not really troubled at any point.
With no Teemu Pukki or Todd Cantwell in the side, their task was made even tougher, but they have now lost five games in succession without scoring a goal and conceding 14.
The Norwich fans even resorting to singing: “Lets’ pretend we scored a goal!” and it neatly summed up another tough afternoon in what is becoming a nightmarish season.
Eagles fly high without Zaha
Although Covid-19 meant he could not be at the game, manager Patrick Vieira’s influence on Palace was clearly on show again. They are much more energetic in attack this season, playing on the front foot rather than the counter-attack, particularly at home.
It is now nine successive games at Selhurst Park in which they’ve scored, and although they were helped by calamitous Norwich defending, there was a real purpose in their play.
And while they were without the suspended Wilfried Zaha, on whom they have relied so heavily in recent years, and the always-impressive Conor Gallagher, the likes of Hughes, Edouard and Mateta picked up the baton seamlessly to deliver an accomplished performance.
Player of the match
ÉdouardOdsonne Édouard
Crystal Palace
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Squad number22Player nameÉdouard
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Squad number12Player nameHughes
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Squad number15Player nameSchlupp
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Squad number9Player nameJ Ayew
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Squad number14Player nameMateta
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Squad number3Player nameMitchell
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Squad number6Player nameGuéhi
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Squad number8Player nameKouyaté
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Squad number2Player nameWard
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Squad number16Player nameAndersen
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Squad number20Player nameBenteke
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Squad number13Player nameGuaita
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Squad number5Player nameTomkins
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Squad number4Player nameMilivojevic
Norwich City
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Squad number46Player nameRowe
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Squad number19Player nameSørensen
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Squad number30Player nameGiannoulis
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Squad number3Player nameByram
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Squad number11Player namePlacheta
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Squad number21Player nameWilliams
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Squad number24Player nameSargent
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Squad number35Player nameIdah
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Squad number28Player nameGunn
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Squad number20Player nameLees-Melou
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Squad number18Player nameTzolis
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Squad number23Player nameMcLean
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Squad number4Player nameGibson
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Squad number8Player nameGilmour
Line-ups
Crystal Palace
Formation 4-3-3
- 13Guaita
- 2Ward
- 16AndersenSubstituted forTomkinsat 83′minutes
- 6Guéhi
- 3Mitchell
- 15Schlupp
- 8Kouyaté
- 12HughesSubstituted forMilivojevicat 73′minutes
- 9J Ayew
- 14MatetaSubstituted forBentekeat 81′minutes
- 22ÉdouardBooked at 22mins
Substitutes
- 1Butland
- 4Milivojevic
- 5Tomkins
- 19Matthews
- 20Benteke
- 34Kelly
- 36Ferguson
- 44Riedewald
Norwich
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 28Gunn
- 3ByramBooked at 29mins
- 19Sørensen
- 4GibsonBooked at 10mins
- 30GiannoulisSubstituted forWilliamsat 45′minutes
- 8Gilmour
- 23McLean
- 11PlachetaSubstituted forSargentat 81′minutes
- 20Lees-Melou
- 18TzolisSubstituted forRoweat 68′minutes
- 35Idah
Substitutes
- 10Dowell
- 15Kabak
- 21Williams
- 24Sargent
- 26Mumba
- 33McGovern
- 46Rowe
- 58McCracken
- Referee:
- Paul Tierney
- Attendance:
- 24,433
Live Text
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Match ends, Crystal Palace 3, Norwich City 0.
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Second Half ends, Crystal Palace 3, Norwich City 0.
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Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Pierre Lees-Melou (Norwich City).
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Foul by Brandon Williams (Norwich City).
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Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Brandon Williams (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace).
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Attempt missed. Odsonne Édouard (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left misses to the left. Assisted by Tyrick Mitchell.
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Offside, Crystal Palace. Jeffrey Schlupp tries a through ball, but Christian Benteke is caught offside.
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Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by Brandon Williams.
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Attempt missed. Odsonne Édouard (Crystal Palace) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Luka Milivojevic with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by Ben Gibson.
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Attempt blocked. Odsonne Édouard (Crystal Palace) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Luka Milivojevic with a cross.
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Foul by Brandon Williams (Norwich City).
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Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Offside, Norwich City. Ben Gibson tries a through ball, but Jonathan Rowe is caught offside.
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Substitution, Crystal Palace. James Tomkins replaces Joachim Andersen.
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Offside, Norwich City. Billy Gilmour tries a through ball, but Adam Idah is caught offside.
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Brandon Williams (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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