Crystal Palace's Daniel Muñoz scores to make it 1-1 with Newcastle.Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters
It was the moment that Oliver Glasner had been praying for. With Crystal Palace staring down the barrel of another costly defeat courtesy of Marc Guéhi’s own goal against the club that had tried so hard to sign him in the summer, a late equaliser from Daniel Muñoz suddenly changed everything.
Newcastle must have thought they had done enough to see off Palace despite not even mustering a shot on target of their own. But they hadn’t accounted for Muñoz, who had earlier somehow contrived to miss a sitter when Palace were in total control during the first half but made no mistake to head home Guéhi’s cross in the fifth minute of injury time and lift Palace out of the bottom three.
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It was a chaotic end to an afternoon that had looked as if it would end in more disappointment for the home side, although Eddie Howe could have no complaints after a less-than-vintage performance from his side after losing Alexander Isak to a hip injury in the first half
Howe had insisted this week that Bruno Guimarães and Sandro Tonali were capable of starting in the same midfield and he recalled the Italian in place of Sean Longstaff as if to prove the point. Newcastle’s inconsistencies so far this season were encapsulated in the home defeat against West Ham last week and they were ineffective in attack for much of the game here after Isak limped off.
Palace’s main issue so far this season has been a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal, having now managed only four goals in their first seven home matches. Therefore the return of Eberechi Eze after a month out with a hamstring injury could not have been more timely, although he looked short of fitness and was withdrawn when the hosts were chasing the game.
Despite their lack of firepower, Guéhi said this week that Palace are capable of beating anyone at Selhurst Park. Yet much like during the negotiations for the England defender, both sides seemed reluctant to show their hands during the early exchanges and the result was a scrappy spectacle. Eze should probably have made more of a lofted ball from Ismaïla Sarr after a quick interchange of passes outside the Newcastle box but his control let him down.
There was bad news for Howe when Isak was forced off after landing awkwardly on his hip following a challenge with Tyrick Mitchell. The Sweden striker attempted to continue but had to be replaced by Harvey Barnes. His first input was to flash a ball across the face of goal after leaving Mitchell for dead.
Sarr could not beat Nick Pope from close range after an excellent passing move from Palace ended with Muñoz picking out the Senegal forward. It was the Colombian’s turn to fluff his lines when he somehow contrived to miss an open goal from Sarr’s pass after a breathtaking break downfield that was sparked by a cute backheel from Eze. No wonder Glasner looked to the heavens in frustration.
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It was Howe’s turn to show his exasperation at the start of the second half as another promising Newcastle attack floundered. This fixture has a history of low scoring encounters in recent years and it seemed that both defences were very much on top.
But everything changed when Gordon was brought down by Lerma just outside the Palace area. A clever free kick routine started by Lewis Hall ended with Guéhi inadvertently turning Gordon’s cross past the stranded Dean Henderson, much to the Palace captain’s clear anguish.
The Palace players were incensed when refer Darren England waved away penalty appeals after a shot from Will Hughes appeared to strike Fabian Schär’s upper arm. Sarr was again denied by Pope and it needed a heroic block from Dan Burn to stop Muñoz slamming home the rebound that would have made amends for his earlier miss.
There was a desperation about Palace as they poured forward in search of an equaliser. Eze was withdrawn for Justin Devenny but Pope was again on hand to keep out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s effort from a tight angle before the Frenchman blazed over from the resulting corner to leave Glasner on his knees. But there was still time for Muñoz to have the final say.