Crystal Palace finished off an amazing week with a 1-0 victory over promotion favourites Middlesbrough.
For Palace it was a similar story with in-form Darren Ambrose scoring at one end while Julian Speroni performs heroics at the other.
Neil Warnock made only one change from the side who started the 1-1 draw at Loftus Road with Freddie Sears coming into the starting eleven.
The game started evenly with chances at both ends. It was Ambrose who troubled the Middlesbrough goal first with a swerving 25-yard free-kick that narrowly missed the target. Neil Danns and Alan Lee also came close to putting Palace ahead.
Middlesbrough's best opportunity came through the highly rated winger Adam Johnson who was denied by Speroni who was branded 'the best keeper in the country' by Warnock in the week.
Palace eventually took the lead in the 64th minute as Ambrose finished cooly to bag his tenth of the season after a concise break including Alan Lee and Danns who combined to find Ambrose alone in the Boro area.
The Eagles were left once more hanging to the points with more than a hint of desperation but another couple of wonder-saves from Jules who denied first Wheater and then O'Neil to secure a crucial victory.
I said last week this week would tell us alot about our squad and you have to say taking five points from three games against top eight oppositon is fantastic when you consider our small, youthful squad.
However this week has also highlighted one glaring issue that will worry the Palace faithful in the coming weeks.
The past three games have shown how much of the burden Ambrose and Speroni take. An injury to one of them could leave us tumbling back down the table from whence wwe came. More alarming will be the January transfer window where any sizable offer will surely test Simon Jordans ambition. Some saw Warnocks comments regarding Speroni as 'touting' him to Premier League suitors with a view to selling the Argentine in the window.
Personally i would rather lose one of the procotious youngtsers over one of these two but with the state of the finances you have to think every player is up for sale.
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