Crystal Palace promoted to Premier League

Crystal Palace secured promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 2005 with a 1-0 play-off final win over Watford on Monday.

Former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips proved to be the hero at Wembley for Palace, as he netted a penalty in the first half of extra time to seal victory for the London club in a tight match.

Zaha overcame an ankle knock to make Ian Holloway's starting lineup, but Palace arrived at Wembley without their topscorer Glenn Murray, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury prior to the playoffs. Aaron Wilbraham led the attack with veteran frontman Phillips starting on the bench.

Gianfranco Zola had no new injury worries from the dramatic win over Leicester in their playoff semifinal. The Italian opted for Daniel Pudil over Matt Briggs in defense, while Deeney again partnered Player of the Year Matej Vydra in attack.

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The magnitude of the occassion contributed to a very tentative first half. Between them, both Palace and Watford only managed a single meaningful shot in the entire first period.

Less than two months before his 40th birthday, Phillips came off the bench to smash his penalty kick past Manuel Almunia in the 105th minute after Wilfried Zaha was fouled by Marco Cassetti.

Almunia kept Watford in the match with several saves during regulation. He dived the correct way for the penalty kick, but his right hand failed to touch Phillips’ fierce shot.

Palace survived a scare at the death thanks to Joel Ward, who cleared Forestieri's late effort of the line, but were good value for their lucrative victory at Wembley.

The match to decide the third promoted team from the League Championship is worth at least £120 to the winner. The figure is calculated on prize money and payments based on the worst-case scenario that the team finishes last in its first season and is relegated. It doesn’t include sponsorship, ticket and merchandise sales.


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