Birmingham City won their third straight match, ending Crystal Palace's 18-match unbeaten run at home, earlier this evening.
It was a visiting performance at its clinical best as Nathan Redmond, Ravel Morrison and Shane Ferguson found the net as well as Damien Delaney heading into his own goal.
Here, Sports Mole picks the bones out of a surprising result in South London.
Match statistics:
Palace:
Shots 13
On target 3
Possession 50%
Corners 7
Fouls 8
Birmingham:
Shots 9
On target 6
Possession 50%
Corners 1
Fouls 16
Was the result fair?
The scoreline says it all really. Palace began the match well but Birmingham had got themselves in the game before Redmond's opener. After that it was just a ruthless visiting performance from the Blues. They convincingly shut out the division's top scorer in Glenn Murray while finishing with panache down the other end.
Palace's performance
A fast start from Ian Holloway's side was wiped out by Redmond's accurate strike. Palace wanted handball in the build-up but they didn't get it and should have stayed switched on. The second was somewhat unlucky as it fizzed off Delaney's head but they still didn't work Jack Butland until the 52nd minute. A goal then would have changed the game completely but it wasn't to be and they did very little to arouse any sort of fizz in the stands.
Birmingham's performance
Perhaps the most pleasing display of the season for Lee Clark. His side worked extremely hard and were lethal in front of goal. Defensively, they luckily didn't have to deal with the suspended Wilfried Zaha but still dealt with Murray, Kevin Phillips and co very impressively. Up front, Zigic kept the Palace defenders busy as Redmond, Morrison and Ferguson ran the show behind him.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Nathan Redmond: The 19-year-old has shown plenty of promise in the first couple of seasons of his professional career and tonight he was almost unplayable. His pace coupled with close control makes a menacing package and he showed tonight that he can finish and cross as well. One for the future, no doubt about that.
Biggest gaffe
I'm going to give this to Phillips for messing up a big chance to pull one back before half time. The veteran striker was presented with a one-on-one opening but flicked the ball against himself when trying to round Butland.
Referee performance
Robert Madley set his stall out early by handing out two very harsh yellow cards. He was consistent over the 90 minutes though and will sleep easy knowing he didn't have a howler today.
What next?
Palace: Next up for Holloway is a trip to his former club Blackpool on Easter Monday.
Birmingham: The Blues, meanwhile, will look to continue their playoff push when they welcome struggling Black Country rivals Wolves.
Pascal Lemesre
