Cardiff spoil Eagles’ party

The scene was set for a Selhurst Park party on Saturday, but table-toppers Cardiff gatecrashed proceedings and stole the cake.

After the ground's freehold was secured by Eagles' chairman Simon Jordan, the increased pre-match optimism around the ground was understandable, but it was the same old failings which spoiled Jordan's and Palace's day.

Lack of pace up front is not a concern according to Peter Taylor, but the performance of Bluebirds' striker Michael Chopra must have given the Eagles boss a sense of what he has been missing.

A striker in his mould is something Palace desperately need, particularly if the service to his physical strike-force remains sporadic.

Indeed, Palace carved out more opportunities than at Hull, but there were few moments of guile and creativity coming through centrally.

Palace got off to another shambolic start, conceding inside the opening two minutes for the third time in six games.

Gary Borrowdale's miss-placed pass was intercepted by on-loan Arsenal right back Kerrea Gilbert and after a neat knock down by Steven Thompson, Chopra made no mistake from 12 yards for his seventh of the season.

Two long distance efforts by Mark Kennedy and Shefki Kuqi made a mark on the Bluebirds' goal before Jobi McAnuff created the first real telling effort, when his powerful drive went just wide of the righthand post.

Cardiff responded to the spell of Palace pressure, when a rare error by Leon Cort allowed Riccardo Scimeca room in on goal, but his shot was well blocked by Gabor Kiraly.

With five minutes to go before the break, Palace where back in the game.

McAnuff found space on the Palace left and picked out Stuart Green who evaded the offside trap before calmly taking the ball past Alexander and slotting home into an empty net for his first Palace goal on his first start.

After the interval Palace's chances began to dry up, with McAnuff and Green being snuffed out by Gilbert and James Chambers.

Kiraly was called into action to tip Thompson's powerful header over from Chopra's cross, and the Cardiff striker's increasing influence began to tell when Kiraly denied his effort two minutes later.

As the game looked to be heading towards a draw, something special was need to win the points. That magic came from Chopra.

Picking the ball up 25 yards out, the nippy striker cut in from the left and fired a low show past Kiraly which cannoned off the post only to fall for the on-rushing Scimeca to net the easy tap in He may not be the finished article yet but Chopra is certainly a frontman in form - if only Peter Taylor had one in his locker.

Palace star man: Stuart Green. Marked his first start with a well taken goal and showed some neat touches on the right flank. His direct running with the ball was reminiscent of Jobi McAnuff last season.Palace: Kiraly 7, Lawrence 7 (Hudson 45 6), Ward 6, Cort 6, Borrowdale 6, McAnuff 7 (Freedman 67 6), Kennedy 6, Watson 6, Green 7 (Soares 85 5), Kuqi 6, Scowcroft 5