Premier league

CRYSTAL P 1 Dann (90) BOURNEMOUTH 1 King (11)

CRYSTAL PALACE earned a valuable League draw at home to Bournemouth after a comeback inspired by sub Wilfried Zaha.

Their preparations for this fixture had been undermined by Zaha asking manager Alan Pardew for a transfer to Tottenham and concluded with him being named on the substitute’s bench.

His second-half introduction transformed their performance and led to Scott Dann’s equalising goal after Joshua King had given Bournemouth the lead.

Club-record signing Christian Benteke may have been recruited to add the goals Palace had been missing, but it was his half-hearted defending that led to Bournemouth’s 11th-minute opening goal.

His casual clearance from Andrew Surman’s free-kick only went as far as Harry Arter, who looped a pass to King from where the forward classily finished across the face of goal.

Just four minutes more passed when an outstanding chance to equalise was presented. Referee Mike Dean harshly awarded a penalty when Charlie Daniels made contact with Benteke in the area, but instead of bringing his team level Yohan Cabaye watched as Artur Boruc dived to his right to save.

Switching from a 4-4-2 – perhaps forced on them by the unsettled Zaha’s selection on the bench – to a 4-3-3 in the second half, Palace significantly improved.

First, Dann’s header was cleared off the line by Arter. Then Cabaye’s corner fell to Connor Wickham in the area, but the striker instead struck beyond the bar.

In pursuit of a much-needed goal, Pardew in the 66th minute brought on Zaha for Wickham, and the winger’s arrival lifted both his team and the crowd, creating several chances. Jason Puncheon had already shot over the crossbar when Zaha combined with Andros Townsend to play in Lee, who similarly shot over.

The overdue, equalising goal finally came in the third minute of stoppage time. Amid further pressure, Puncheon crossed to Dann, who powerfully headed home.