Palace climb away from trouble with win at Burnley

Crystal Palace moved further away from the Premier League relegation zone with a 3-1 win at fellow strugglers Burnley on Saturday thanks to second half goals from Michy Batshuayi and Wilfried Zaha.

Palace took the lead in the 15th minute when Jeffrey Schlupp’s pull-back struck Burnley defender Phil Bardsley and ricocheted into his own goal.

Burnley dominated the rest of the opening half with Chris Wood forcing a fine reflex save out of Wayne Hennessey with a fierce shot and the Clarets peppering the Palace box with crosses from deep.

But three minutes after the re-start, Palace struck again when full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s pass was blasted home, first-time, by Batshuayi.

The game was wrapped up in outstanding fashion by Zaha who tormented the Burnley defence, twisting inside and out, before firing a low shot past Tom Heaton.

An Ashley Barnes header gave Burnley a late consolation and although subtitute Peter Crouch went close to a second, Palace’s lead was never in real danger.