Crystal Palace 2 Watford 1: Wilfried Zaha late show stuns Selhurst Park as Eagles fly out of bottom three

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Jack Rosser @JackRosser_12 December 2017

Crystal Palace stunned Watford with two goals in the dying minutes to climb out of the bottom three for the first time this season.

In a week where their three closest rivals - Swansea, West Ham and West Brom - all face top-six opposition, Roy Hodgson now sees his side climb out of the bottom three before Wednesday’s games.

The Eagles, though, got off to a shocking start. While Watford were at their hosts from the off, Palace looked as if they were yet to shake of the cold at Selhurst Park.

They were made to pay after just three minutes when Richarlison swung a cross to the far post, where a charging Daryl Janmaat headed home from close range.

It took Hodgson’s side a while to recover from that early blow, but they slowly found their feet and ended the first half on the up and aggrieved by a couple of questionable decisions from referee Lee Mason.

The second half looked to have passed the hosts by despite all their efforts. That was until - following Tom Cleverley’s late red card - the 89th minute when substitute Bakary Sako clawed back a hard-earned equaliser.

The goal got the fans going once more and, when six minutes added time were shown, they were rocking.

Palace needed just a few of those added minutes as another substitute, James McArthur, fired home to take all three points and heap the pressure on those below them in the table.