By Mark Ritson at the Cardiff City Stadium
CRYSTAL Palace secured a fantastic 3-0 victory at Cardiff City this afternoon to ease their relegation fears and move on up to 34 points in 14th place in the Premier League.
It was a well-deserved victory in South Wales, with Cardiff lacking any conviction in the final third and the Palace backline defending resolutely as we've seen many times this season.
Jason Puncheon scored a brilliant double, with the second the standout finish of the match, curling beyond David Marshall to put the icing on the cake.
The winger had given the Eagles the lead in the first half, before former Cardiff City man Joe Ledley extended the lead in the second period.
It was a stunning win away from home against a side who looked completely out of sorts and are staring relegation in the face, it has to be said.
Kagisho Dikgacoi had the first opportunity on four minutes when Jason Puncheon superbly picked him out unmarked from a corner, but the South African blazed over.
And from the Eagles' next corner kick, Mile Jedinak spun superbly past his marker as the ball was half-cleared but his attempt was closed down by Kevin Theophile-Catherine.
Wilfried Zaha, up against the club he helped into the Premier League then saw a lot more of the ball inside 60 seconds, having three deliveries from the right cut out after beating Joel Ward at the byline.
And the Palace fans let their feelings known to the winger, calling for him to "come home".
Midway through the half, Julian Speroni was called into action from his own skipper, clawing away a header by Jedinak which was heading for the bottom corner following a cross.
Adrian Mariappa was then on hand twice in quick succession to deny Cardiff an opener, first heading away as Kenwyne Jones was lurking, before cutting out a through-ball from the big striker.
However, Palace drew first blood on 31 minutes thanks to a great finish from Jason Puncheon.
And it was former Bluebird Joe Ledley who set him up, playing a square pass from the left-side of the box to Puncheon, who took a touch before shooting low past a flat-footed David Marshall.
Cardiff were stunned and failed to trouble Palace heading into the break.
However, they were a lot brighter in the second period, knowing they had to attack the Eagles.
But Palace managed to hit them on the counter, most notably when Jerome and Puncheon motored down both flanks with separate chances but Palace failed to make the most of it.
Marouane Chamakh replaced Bolasie on 64 minutes, while Zaha went off for the hosts, being replaced by Craig Noone.
With Cardiff huffing and puffing, Palace extended their lead on 71 minutes thanks to former Bluebird Ledley.
As a free-kick was curled in by Puncheon, Chamakh found himself completely unmarked and headed towards.
Marshall pulled off a fantastic stop but only into the path of the Welsh international, who forced the ball home.
And of course, there was celebration from Ledley as you'd expect. However, he got injured by the touchline with a dozen or so minutes to play and was heckled by the home fans.
He was replaced by Jonathan Parr as Palace looked to close the game out, before Glenn Murray came on for the hard-working Jerome.
The game was wrapped up late on thanks to a peach of a strike from Puncheon. Picking up the ball on the right, he cut inside before curling a beauty into the top corner past Marshall.
And the Eagles went looking for a fourth as Murray saw a shot blocked and Puncheon, looking for his hat-trick, was denied.
But it didn't matter as Pulis' men came away with a fantastic three points. They are very nearly over the line now and seven points clear of the dropzone.
Next up for the Eagles is a home game against Aston Villa.
Palace: Speroni, Mariappa, Dann, Delaney, Ward, Dikgacoi, Jedinak, Ledley (Parr 79), Puncheon, Bolasie (Chamakh 64), Jerome (Murray 83).
Subs Not Used: Hennessey, Gabbidon, Ince, Gayle.
Attendance: 27,687
Referee: Phil Dowd
