City leapt above Swansea (0 - 0 at home to Ipswich) and Leicester (lost 1 - 0 ar Derby) and have a five point cushion over Blackpool in 7th. Cardiff have a game in hand over Blackpool and that will be played this Tuesday against Leicester at the CCS.
If that game wasn't big enough then City face Swansea next Saturday and Forest on Monday week. All these matches are massive in the race for a play off spot.
City were on top early today with Gabor Gyepes sidefooting home after a Peter Whittingham corner was helped on by Steve McPhail. Palace were looking beat already but it was the home side who rallied and took the game to City.
Marshall had to be at his best and the woodwork chipped in as well as City held onto their lead. Kelvin Etuhu, in the starting line up for Jay Bothroyd missed a golden chance when through on goal. A brave block from Speroni kept the ball out. Etuhu was partnered up front with Michael Chopra. Ross McCormack on the bench for the match.
The second half continued to see Palace pressure but City were getting down the other end more. Etuhu again missing a great chance when blasting over from a clear shot insode the box. TV replays show the ball bobbled up before he hit it.
Palace had a decent claim for a penalty. But the lineman flagged for an infringement on the keeper a split second before the Palace player went down.
Then a goal conceded. Clint Hill heading home unmarked from a corner. Palace had pressured City with high crosses all game and this time it paid off.
The disappointment didn't stop Cardiff from exploring forward. Less than 10 mins later came the winning goal. Kennedy's long free kick (Paul Hart was tamping that it was given for handball) was headed down by Paul Quinn to Burke, the nippy Scotsman chested the ball past his marker before unleashing a right footed shot past the well beaten Speroni.
Passionate celebrations from Burke and bedlam amongst the City fans.
Palace continued to push forward and if everyone else was like me then there were a lot of very nervous and tense City fans as the clocked ticked down. warren Feeney came on for an slightly injured MiChael Chopra who took all the abuse from the home players and fans as he ambled the full width of the pitch. Feeney in his few mins on the pitch managed to get booked for stopping Speroni from making a clearance. There was 5 mins added time.
Shaun Derry twice have efforts at goal, the first very close, the second wayward and that was the last attempt of the game.
Relief flooding out all around.
The stats show Palace had more possession, more shots etc but the scores say Crystal Palace 1 - 2 Cardiff City.
So a play off place still firmly in Cardiff's sights, for Palace it's a different battle. Their loss of 10 points for going into admin and a run of just 1 win in 13 matches sees them 4 points adrift of safety in the relgation places.
A sad demise for them as they try to avoid becoming the next Leeds Utd or Norwich and drop into the third tier not so long after being Premier League.
Well done City.
