Crystal Palace came back to win a Premier League game from a two-goal deficit for the first time as new manager Alan Pardew’s restorative powers worked wonders for them again on Saturday.
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In his first league game in charge last week, Palace trailed 1-0 against Tottenham Hotspur before winning 2-1 and last weekend they were two goals down at Burnley but won 3-2 with Dwight Gayle’s late strike securing three vital points.
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Having started against Tottenham in the relegation zone, the south Londoners are now up to the relative safety of 12th, four points above third from bottom Hull City.
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“We made it a tough game for ourselves today,” Pardew told the BBC. “The first goal we should have done better and the second was a foul so we had to come from a deep mine today.
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“But the character of the group doesn’t surprise me. The technical flair we showed on a tricky pitch gave us a fantastic lift today. We had a real spring in our step and we had real quality in certain areas.”
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Pardew’s impact has been spectacular and the travelling Palace fans were singing his name again, just as they once did when he was a player, as Gayle’s brace and another effort from Jason Puncheon gave Palace the points.
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He knows that the job of lifting the Eagles clear of trouble has only just begun though.
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“Two wins has given us a real chance,” said Pardew, who left Newcastle for Palace after four years in the north east.
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“It won’t always be like this, we’ve got difficult days ahead but we have to be focussed on winning games and that’s what we will try and do from Monday onwards.
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“Now I can hopefully build this club like I did at Newcastle and for a short period at Southampton before that.
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“I really feel we can go forward quickly if we can stay in the Premier League.”
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