Out of the misery finally came a win. With it Sam Allardyce allowed himself a scream into the sky and then a deep breath. Relief? It was written all over him.
It has been a rotten time for Crystal Palace’s manager since he rocked up at Christmas, with five winless games before this fixture and the realisation that his side are in deep trouble.
For a decent stretch of time here, the crisis was getting worse. His side looked sloppy, nervous, damaged by recent experiences in the Premier League and then they fell behind when James Henry lobbed Julian Speroni three minutes in the second half.