Crystal Palace 1-2 Bournemouth

Marc Pugh scored his second league goal of the season

Bournemouth extended Crystal Palace's losing streak to five matches after they came from behind at Selhurst Park.

The Eagles took the lead when defender Scott Dann turned in Wilfried Zaha's low cross.

But Palace's lead lasted barely six minutes before Marc Pugh cleverly bought himself space and fired in a precise low shot.

And Benik Afobe nodded in the winner after Wayne Hennessey saved Matt Ritchie's shot.

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Palace manager Alan Pardew threw on new signing Emmanuel Adebayor for his first Premier League appearance since May, but the hosts could not find an equaliser.

Marouane Chamakh wasted the best chance when he fired straight at Artur Boruc from Mile Jedinak's cut-back.

Palace remain 11th, while Bournemouth move up one place to 15th and are now seven points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

Afobe does it again

Bournemouth were among the league's biggest spenders in the transfer window and eyebrows were raised when the Cherries paid £10m for Wolves striker Benik Afobe.

And the striker might have provided those critics with ammunition when he missed a glaring chance midway through the first half, sending a volley across the face of goal from Charlie Daniels' searching cross.

But the 22-year-old had scored in his previous two matches and he made it three in a row when he was quickest to follow up the rebound from Hennessey's save - earning the Cherries a first come-from-behind win of the season.

"I've come here for a lot of money in some people's eyes," Afobe said. "I need to prove my worth and I can only do that by scoring goals."

Goal no solace for Palace

Wilfried Zaha got into threatening positions (left), but his passes (right) usually failed to find a Team-mate, although he did record one assist (in blue)

Pardew's side are crying out for a regular goalscorer like Afobe, having entered this match with just one goal in their last six matches - and that an own goal scored by Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen.

And although this match saw a Palace player find the net for the first time since 19 December, it was fitting that it was not a forward, but centre-back Dann - whose tally of four goals this season is four times as many as Palace's strikers have managed between them.

The hosts battled tirelessly to end their miserable run, with Wilfried Zaha a constant threat on the left wing - but the fact that his assist for the first goal was his first of the season tells you all you need to know about the effectiveness of Palace's strikers.

Manager Pardew must hope that Adebayor is the man to convert those chances - or he faces seeing his side slip down the table.

Man of the match - Wilfried Zaha

Wilfried Zaha (right) recorded an assist and took on opposition players 16 times, more than anyone else on the pitch

What they said: 'You have to commit murder to get sent off against us'

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew was exasperated with referee Mike Jones' failure to send off Adam Smith for hauling back Jordon Mutch just outside the area - the Bournemouth full-back was shown a yellow card.

"No one ever gets sent off against us," Pardew said. "No one. You have to commit murder to get sent off against us.

"There's an incident tonight, I think if we're a bigger club maybe we get the calls. Since I've been here I've been amazed by some of the decisions I haven't had where at Newcastle I would have got them."

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "We weren't very good first half, but we showed great resilience and we just about deserved it.

"It was a high-class goal [from Marc Pugh] and it proved to be a lifeline. Second half we were a lot more fluent and we broke really dangerously through the heart of the pitch.

"We believe in Benik and he's doing ever so well for us. We're not the finished article but we're moving in the right direction."

The stats you need to know

• Seven of Palace's 25 goals this season have come from defenders, a league high.

• Marc Pugh's goal was Bournemouth's first of the season in the 15-minute period before half-time.

• After losing five of their first six away Premier League games, Bournemouth have lost just one of their last seven (W3 D3 L1).

What's next?

Bournemouth host Arsenal on Sunday - with ex-Gunners striker Afobe looking to score for the fourth game in a row - while Crystal Palace visit Swansea on Saturday.