Palace’s Premiership adventure ends eight minutes from safety

It was a cruel, cruel blow for Palace, who put in one of their best performances of the season in testing circumstances and showed typical guts and determination to come back from a goal down, only to see another lapse in concentration in the final minutes this time cost Iain Dowie's men dear.

Dowie said: "We dominated the game and were kept out by some great saves and then the first attack they have they scored but our response was terrific.

"A silly set piece at the death cost us dear but the lads are blameless in relegation this season.

"I am proud to be the manager of this group of players who deserve better than they got this weekend."

The game showed many parallels to last week's game with Southampton, with Palace being cruelly denied at the death, an unlikely hero also being denied a fairytale ending and the Eagles dominating a game they should have won.

The Palace boss pursued with the 4-5-1 formation which he has deployed for the majority of the season, despite Nicole Ventola's late heroics last week, which didn't earn him a starting place.

After an edgy start by both sides, Palace had the best opportunity to go in front early on when Danny Granville found himself inside the Charlton box after controlling a Michael Hughes cross which eventually fell to Fitz Hall who saw his shot saved by Dean Kiely.

Wayne Routledge then fired a shot wide, before the recalled Ben Watson seriously tested Kiely for the second time when his curling free kick forced the Irishman into a neat left-hand save.

Routledge then had the shot of the first half as Palace put more pressure on the Charlton back-line, when his rasping 25-yard half-volley was beaten away by Kiely.

But against the run of play, Charlton took the lead on the half hour mark when Kiskishev played a delightful through ball beyond Danny Butterfield, which was latched on to by Bryan Hughes who cut in from the left and slid past Kiraly off the post.

The goal certainly stunned Palace and Charlton were close to making it 2-0 minutes later when Jonaton Johansson put a header inches wide.

Considering Palace have yet to come back from a goal behind this season, thinks looked bleak at the break but it was an inspired substitution by Dowie which gave Palace the lift they desperately needed.

Dougie Freedman is no stranger to saving Palace from relegation in the past and he was mightily close to doing it again on Sunday.

His introduction after 55 minutes in the place of Danny Butterfield, paid immediate dividends when he read a poorly directed header by Charlton defender Talal El Karkouri and delightfully lobbed Kiely for the Scotsman's first Premiership goal of the season.

Palace were now firing and with the news that Norwich were being soundly beaten by Fulham, chants of "we only need one goal" by the Palace fans was greeted with more direct play from the Eagles.

Moments later the outstanding Michael Hughes found Freedman in space on the left-hand side and after running the ball into the Charlton box, his cross to Andrew Johnson was handled by Fortune and referee Rob Clattenburg pointed to the spot.

Johnson showed no signs of nerves and redeemed himself for his penalty miss against Charlton earlier in the campaign by stroking home his 21st of the season and sending the Palace fans into dreamland.

Charlton were rocked and showed no signs of creating anything to disturb the Palace defence, which forced Alan Curbishley to introduce lively winger Jerome Thomas to give the Eagles something to think about.

Palace had to hold on for 20 minutes and were looking comfortable until 10 minutes from time when Thomas started to stretch a tired Palace midfield, which opened up the game even more.

Thomas was then needlessly fouled by Mikele Leigertwood after controlling a throw close to the Palace by-line which prompted the inevitable.

The resulting free kick by Thomas was floated into the Palace box and wasn't dealt with either by Kiraly or the Palace defence as Fortune rose highest to nod home to break Palace hearts.

Freedman had a late strike well saved by Kiely, as Charlton held on to preserve their draw and ensure Championship football for the Eagles next season.

MATCH STATS
PALACE STAR MAN

Dougie Freedman The Scotsman's introduction was the turning point in the game, as he immediately injected some belief and life to the Palace attack. Took his goal expertly and looked a threat throughout.
PALACE
Kiraly 7, Butterfield 5 (Freedman 56 9), Hall 8, Popovic 7, Granville 7, Leigertwood 7, Soares 8 (Powell 86 6), Watson 8 (Riihilahti 89 5), Hughes 9, Routledge 8, Johnson 8. Subs Not Used: Speroni, Ventola Charlton Palace 5 On target 6 3 Off target 3 14 Fouls 18 2 Yellow cards 2 0 Red cards 0