Red faces all round for pallid Palace

Crystal Palace 2 Portsmouth 3

As if the unfunny events of last Tuesday were not bad enough, the smiles that were rather broad on the Crystal Palace faces here just before the interval were well and truly wiped off within the space of four second-half minutes. That was all the time it took for Portsmouth to recover from two goals down and turn an apparently inevitable defeat into what is likely to remain one of the most impressive comebacks of the season.

The events of midweek meant laughter was off the agenda in the Crystal Palace team. That was when an alleged smirk by Alex Kolinko cost the reserve goalkeeper a slap in the face from his own manager when he saw his side concede a goal to Bradford. That bizarre incident, which resulted in Trevor Francis being sent to the stands and a police investigation, clearly meant that any light relief for the Eagles on or off the pitch would have to be earned the hard way.

And despite struggling for 40 minutes, by the time both teams went in for the interval Palace were suddenly two up and by far the happier team. With five minutes to go until the break, Dougie Freedman broke the deadlock with an outstanding strike that was some reward for all his hard running in the hot sun. Nigel Quashie gave the ball away 35 yards from his own goal and Freedman pounced. With nowhere else to go he wriggled his way to the edge of the penalty area and found the top corner with a sweet shot.

Two minutes later, Palace doubled their advantage, and again Freedman was at the root of it when he was fouled near the corner flag. The free-kick from Danny Granville was met by a challenged Tony Popovic and the defender's header found the bottom corner of the net.

That seemed to be that, as 20 minutes into the second half Portsmouth were treading water. Then Harry Redknapp's men struck and Palace went into a tailspin for the all-important next four minutes which cost them the match.

First Hayden Foxe headed home from a Matt Taylor corner and then, 60 seconds later, Taylor, a summer signing from Luton, squared the ball for the half-time substitute Jason Crowe to fire past Matt Clarke. Palace's misery was complete three minutes later when Deon Burton pulled the ball back for Crowe and the former Palace loan player lashed his left-foot shot home.

Redknapp attributed the turnaround to his half-time treatment of his players, as well as some astute tactical changes. "I got stuck in to the players at half-time and also changed the shape of the team," he said. "We had better balance in the second half, but we were second best and outnumbered in the first."

Meanwhile Francis did not shed any further light on the Kolinko affair, but he did acknowledge Redknapp's tactical acumen. He said: "Portsmouth were out of the game at half-time but they matched us in midfield after the break. They then got a goal back and the tired team went from being them to us, but I thought we deserved a point."

Crystal Palace 2
Freedman 40, Popovic 42

Portsmouth 3
Foxe 68, Crowe 69, 72

Half-time: 2-0 Attendance: 18,315