Crystal Palace picked up their second win on the bounce with a one-goal triumph at South London neighbours Charlton Athletic this evening.
Kagisho Dikgacoi scored the winner with a instinctive volley following some close chest control in the area.
Here, Sports Mole casts its eye over the 90 minutes at the Valley.
Match statistics:
Charlton:
Shots: 17
On target: 6
Possession: 44%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 6
Palace:
Shots: 12
On target: 6
Possession: 56%
Corners: 9
Fouls: 14
Was the result fair?
Yes. Despite the fact that Charlton had a legitimate goal wiped out for offside in the first half, Palace bossed the game and looked far more dangerous. Of course, if Charlton had gone ahead things could have been a lot different but the visiting Eagles did not look like an away side and controlled the game for the vast majority.
Charlton's performance
Unimpressive. The Addicks and Chris Powell will not be best pleased with a lacklustre performance that means back-to-back defeats after a three-game unbeaten start to the campaign. The home side were tonight wasteful in possession and particularly bad at shooting, rarely testing Julian Speroni from some promising positions. One thing they did do well was worry the Palace defence in the air but maybe that's because Palace have statistically the worst defence in the division!
Palace's performance
Extremely good going forward. Dougie Freedman's side looked a constant threat, especially on the counter-attack with young wingers Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie particularly impressing. They should have perhaps got more than the single goal but in the end that's all that was required, even though Charlton almost nicked an equaliser through their keeper at the end.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Wilfried Zaha. The sought-after winger can be frustrating with his insistence on stepovers and the like but he is very talented and caused both Rhoys Wiggins and Chris Solly plenty of problems. The teenager needs to work on his final ball a little but he has all the components to be a Premier League regular in the future.
Biggest gaffe of the match
This award has to go to linesman Mathew Buonassisi for unfairly ruling out Bradley Wright-Phillips's header in the first half. The Charlton frontman may have appeared ahead of the last man but there was a Palace body on the floor who was clearly playing BWP onside.
Referee's performance
Tony Bates got most things right in what was at times a feisty encounter. He was rather card-happy during the second period but I think all the cautions were justified.
What next?
Charlton: The Addicks will look to put things right when they go to Derby County on Tuesday night.
Palace: Palace, meanwhile, take on Nottingham Forest for their third win on the bounce.
Pascal Lemesre
