The Palace stormed

Following Newcastle United's trip to Gillingham in the second round of the League Cup, I again journeyed to see the black-and-whites (though they were playing in their grey 'England Euro 96' change kit) as the Toon pitched up in south London for the third round match against Crystal Palace.  A painful, winless start to the Premier League season has seen Newcastle find solace in this modest run in the Capital One Cup (or as the Selhurst Park announcer put it, living in the past, the Carling Cup - he might as well have called it the Milk Cup or the Littlewoods Cup).  The Magpies only winning goal so far in any competition had been off a Gillingham defender.
There was a modicum of hope in the Croydon expanses as United had beaten the Eagles on the previous five occasions on the latter's home turf and whereas Neil Warnock had made 11 changes to his first team following a creditable 3-2 win at Everton, Alan Pardew - needing a victory of any kind - had only made four alterations to his starting line-up since the last-gasp draw against Hull City last Saturday.  With so much disruption, the quality of football was not high, despite the final scoreline of 3-2 suggesting box-to-box thrills.  As soon as either team built up a head of steam, ultimately they were wasteful.  There wasn't even the raucous passion displayed by Gillingham fans (bar a corner of Palace ultras) to warm the cockles, though at least the Newcastle travelling fans had no aspersions cast against their perceived lack of support this time.
After a relatively bright opening period where Newcastle kept passing in front of the opposition goal without ever really looking to threaten it, Palace took the lead slightly against the run of play.  A trip by Daryl Janmaat on the tricksy prodigal son Wilfried Zaha saw a penalty awarded and Janmaat on his back, disbelieving at how his rush of blood to the head forced him to try and nick the ball rather than just shepherd Zaha who was going nowhere.  Dwight Gayle stepped up to smash the penalty home, though goalkeeper Rob Elliot guessed the right way.
This was looking bad as the last time the Magpies had come from behind to win had been a year and a half ago.  Nevertheless, a first proper attempt at goal led to Newcastle's equaliser, silencing the ironic praise for ex-Palace player Pardew from the home stands.  Occurring at the other end of the pitch, I didn't a good view of it and that kept my passions in check as I was sitting in a home section with a Palace-supporting friend.  Emmanuel Riviere finally opened his account for the club after his summer move from Monaco and even if it had been against second-string opposition, as Alan Shearer used to say, they all count.
After the half-time break, some nifty footwork by Sammy Ameobi with his telescopic legs saw him bundled over by two Palace players in exactly the same spot that Janmaat had committed the foul on Zaha.  Riviere made no mistake with the penalty, putting it high into the net down the middle (a risky strategy).  Thereafter, the better chances fell to Newcastle on the counter-attack, though again it was more butter through a blowtorch rather than vice versa.  At one point, the Magpies were two-on-one but a complete lack of confidence led to an abdication responsibility for the shot.  Shoot?  No, pass. Shoot? No, pass back.  Shoot?  No, pass back again and oh look the goalkeeper's collected it.  Jack Colback was clearly frustrated at such dithering and on the next foray, he showed them how to do it or rather not as his ball went high into the stands, almost taking out the television cameraman (a pitchside photojournalist had earlier been wiped out in a tackle that slid outside the boundary), but at least he was being decisive.
3-1 would have sealed the result but with just one goal in it there was always hope for Palace.  As at St James' Park three and a half weeks ago, the Eagles snatched an injury-time leveller.  It was a night for debutant scorers as substitute Sullay Kaikai managed to bundle the ball in to take the game to extra time.  Before the game could resume, the scores were read out from around the country, plus it was announced that the winners of the tie had the dubious reward of being drawn away against League Cup holders (and Premier League champions) Manchester City, the Citizens drubbing Sheffield Wednesday 7-0 on the night (though it was 0-0 at half-time).  Newcastle haven't beaten City in the last fifteen attempts, losing every match since the Magpies' return to the Premier League (and as a curio, in Pardew's nearly four years in charge, he has had only one cup game at home - of course, that had to be against City).
Such a massive disincentive seemed to dampen the ambition of both sets of players for a while but the teams seemed to conclude that a win is a win and eventually went for it with a bit more gusto - a bit too much gung-ho spirit from fringe player Mehdi Abeid whose foul drew a second yellow card and an early shower on the 100th minute.  Counter-intuitively, Newcastle looked a better side after Abeid's dismissal, their performance making them appear like the team with the extra man.  The pressure told and defender Paul Dummett scored with a diving header with eight minutes remaining, prompting a joyous celebration with the players coming to the away stand section.  There was still time to blow it though and Elliot was forced into an outstanding, Shay Given-esque one-handed point-blank save.
So, I have been party to both of Newcastle United's wins though I won't be making a midweek trip to Manchester.  My presence hasn't been the deciding factor, more the mediocre quality of the southern-based opposition.  The match finishing at 10.30 p.m., I pitied the away fans making the long journey north, I myself getting home just before half past midnight.  At least a trip across the Pennines won't be so deleterious to their sleep patterns unless the result is truly horrific.  As always with United, there is a cloud to every silver lining.