Crystal Palace aren’t safe yet, but now that they’re sitting seven points above the drop zone with a game in hand, Tony Pulis must be about to sleep a little easier. Cardiff’s defeat, however, puts the Bluebirds second from bottom, six points from safety.
It came as little surprise when Palace took the lead after half an hour. Palace had barely anything to do in the first thirty minutes, with Julian Speroni hardly needing to wake up to save a header from Frazier Campbell.
It was Jason Puncheon who fired the visitors ahead, exchanging passes with Joe Ledley as they moved upfield. Puncheon managed to find himself a bit of space inside Cardiff’s penalty area, driving his shot past David Marshall into the bottom corner of the net.
With Cardiff staring relegation in the face yet again, you’d think they’d be eager to go on the attack. Instead, the closest they came was a penalty appeal after Mats Daehli was taking out by Palace defender Kagisho Dikgacoi. The referee was close by, however, and waved away the claims.
So again, Palace’s second goal failed to surprise. Again the Cardiff defense fell to pieces, with the Bluebirds leaving substitute Marouane Chamakh wide open. He got his head on the end of a free kick and, although Speroni was able to push it away, the ball fell invitingly for Ledley. The former Cardiff man had no trouble tapping in to double Crystal Palace’s lead.
As if Cardiff weren’t already feeling low enough, Puncheon had to go and score a second. Again, Chamakh was vital, letting the ball from Adrian Mariappa slip through his legs for Puncheon to run onto. He let rip from 25 yards, the shot settling into the top corner of the net.
Cardiff City: Marshall; Theophile-Catherine, Caulker, Turner, Taylor; Medel, Mutch, Daehli (Bellamy 72), Zaha (Noone 62); Campbell, Jones (Cowie 78)
Crystal Palace: Speroni, Mariappa, Dann, Delaney, Ward, Dikgacoi, Jedinak, Ledley (Parr 79), Puncheon, Bolasie (Chamakh 64), Jerome (Murray 83)
Goals: Puncheon 31′; 88′; Ledley 71′
