Crystal Palace burgled a penalty and a point in the 82nd minute, when Mike Dean mistakenly ruled that Chico Flores had brought down Glenn Murray inside the area. The substitute striker was in the D when he was tripped but fell inside the 18-yard line and got up to score from the spot. The result leaves Swansea without a win in six games and, like Palace, they remain embroiled in the relegation battle.
The Welsh team's stylish football was infinitely superior to Palace's thud and blunder, but the south London club's revival under Tony Pulis continues apace. When he took charge at Selhurst Park a palsied team had just four points from their first 11 games. Under the Welshman's messianic management they have harvested another 23 from the next 16. A drenching downpour before and during the match quickened up the playing surface and assisted Swansea's slick passing game.
The Swans made three changes after their elimination from Europe in Naples last Thursday, recalling Àngel Rangel, Leon Britton and Nathan Dyer in place of Dwight Tiendalli, José Canas and Marvin Emnes. Palace were without Jason Puncheon, omitted after his Twitter spat with Neil Warnock.
Tom Ince, who turned down permanent moves to Swansea and Cardiff last summer, before joining Palace on loan during the January transfer window, had his every touch booed and was abused as "daddy's boy". Distracted or not, Ince's contribution was poor, and he was removed from the fray at half-time.
Swansea were forced to make an early change when Pablo Hernández went off, injured, and the consequent substitution worked to their immediate advantage. Canas came on to play in front of the back four, with De Guzman pushing forward and it was the Dutchman who scored in the 25th minute, shooting in from near the penalty spot after a crisp passing move featuring Ashley Williams, Wilfried Bony and Britton.
Palace had to make a change of their own when Marouane Chamakh went off holding a hamstring to be replaced by Cameron Jerome. At this stage the home crowd were spoilt for choice when it came to who to boo: Ince, or Joe Ledley and Jerome, both ex-Cardiff.
Bony would have made it 2-0 after 36 minutes when he met Rangel's cross on the volley six yards out, only for Julian Speroni to pull off a startling one-handed save. A two-goal margin would have been a more reasonable reflection of the balance of play in a first half in which the Swans enjoyed 83% of possession.
The introduction of Murray, in place of Ince, gave Palace some semblance of goal threat, and it was the big striker who gained and scored the penalty which rescued a point. He was definitely outside the penalty area when Flores brought him down. The referee, well behind the play, was right to send off Flores, but wrong to point to the spot, from where Murray drove the ball into Michel Vorm's top left-hand corner. Reported by guardian.co.uk 10 hours ago.
The Welsh team's stylish football was infinitely superior to Palace's thud and blunder, but the south London club's revival under Tony Pulis continues apace. When he took charge at Selhurst Park a palsied team had just four points from their first 11 games. Under the Welshman's messianic management they have harvested another 23 from the next 16. A drenching downpour before and during the match quickened up the playing surface and assisted Swansea's slick passing game.
The Swans made three changes after their elimination from Europe in Naples last Thursday, recalling Àngel Rangel, Leon Britton and Nathan Dyer in place of Dwight Tiendalli, José Canas and Marvin Emnes. Palace were without Jason Puncheon, omitted after his Twitter spat with Neil Warnock.
Tom Ince, who turned down permanent moves to Swansea and Cardiff last summer, before joining Palace on loan during the January transfer window, had his every touch booed and was abused as "daddy's boy". Distracted or not, Ince's contribution was poor, and he was removed from the fray at half-time.
Swansea were forced to make an early change when Pablo Hernández went off, injured, and the consequent substitution worked to their immediate advantage. Canas came on to play in front of the back four, with De Guzman pushing forward and it was the Dutchman who scored in the 25th minute, shooting in from near the penalty spot after a crisp passing move featuring Ashley Williams, Wilfried Bony and Britton.
Palace had to make a change of their own when Marouane Chamakh went off holding a hamstring to be replaced by Cameron Jerome. At this stage the home crowd were spoilt for choice when it came to who to boo: Ince, or Joe Ledley and Jerome, both ex-Cardiff.
Bony would have made it 2-0 after 36 minutes when he met Rangel's cross on the volley six yards out, only for Julian Speroni to pull off a startling one-handed save. A two-goal margin would have been a more reasonable reflection of the balance of play in a first half in which the Swans enjoyed 83% of possession.
The introduction of Murray, in place of Ince, gave Palace some semblance of goal threat, and it was the big striker who gained and scored the penalty which rescued a point. He was definitely outside the penalty area when Flores brought him down. The referee, well behind the play, was right to send off Flores, but wrong to point to the spot, from where Murray drove the ball into Michel Vorm's top left-hand corner. Reported by guardian.co.uk 10 hours ago.