Crystal Palace 1-0 Swansea City
- Published
Chamakh winner as Palace finish 10th
Striker's first league goal since September
Pardew completes recovery mission in style
Swansea lose at Palace for first time since 2008
Marouane Chamakh's second-half goal gave Crystal Palace the victory that saw them finish 10th in the Premier League with a record points tally.
The former Arsenal striker, 31, drove home his second league goal of the season after a free-kick was headed into his path by Scott Dann.
The result ended Swansea's three-match winning run at Selhurst Park as they offered little in response.
Defeats for Everton and West Ham saw Palace finish in the top half.
The result completed a remarkable second half of the season under manager Alan Pardew, who took over at Selhurst Park in early January when Palace were in the relegation places.
He has since guided them to 10 wins in 18 league games as Palace finished just two places behind Swansea.
After securing their top-flight safety, Palace had run up four successive defeats before winning at Liverpool last weekend.
And thanks to Chamakh's goal they were able to finish on a high at home with a first success at Selhurst Park since beating Manchester City on Easter Monday.
Swansea have enjoyed a memorable season but were unable to improve their position on the final day and manager Garry Monk was without senior players Ashley Williams, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jonjo Shelvey.
That told as Swansea's impressive record at Palace was dented on the back of a low-key performance.
Palace always looked the more likely winners and forced the break-through 12 minutes into the second half.
Jason Puncheon's free-kick created the telling chance with Dann nodding the ball back for Chamakh to control on his chest and drill home a low left-footed shot to give him his fourth goal of the season and first in the league since September.
Mile Jedinak and Wilfried Zaha went close to a second goal but it wasn't needed as Palace capitalised on slip-ups elsewhere to finish above the 11th place they managed last season under Tony Pulis.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew:
"We knew we had a chance (to finish 10th) today. It's probably down to that win at Liverpool. It's remarkable, I'd never have dreamt it.
"Obviously Palace didn't quite find it in the first half. But we got the adrenaline and fight back.
"We have a squad here who is not short of quality or character and they've shown that. We have a strong group.
"It's been a great experience, I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I've loved working with the staff and players.
"We want to kick on now."
Swansea manager Garry Monk:
"A lot of our key players were missing. That's not an excuse and I can't fault the effort and the commitment but when they are missing, the quality is not quite there.
"I was disappointed with the loss but I can't complain too much. It's been an incredible season, to finish where we are with a record number of points.
"It's been a fantastic journey for me, the players and everyone at the club.
"Some of the quality has been the best I've seen at the club and hopefully it's a foundation to build on."
Crystal Palace v Swansea, as it happened.
- Published18 May 2015
- Published17 May 2015
- Published24 May 2015
- Published22 May 2015
- Published20 June 2016
- Published7 June 2019