Jeffrey Schlupp strikes to fire 10-man Crystal Palace to victory over AFC Bournemouth

The hosts looked in for a tough night when Mamadou Sakho was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Adam Smith after just 19 minutes.

But Cherries struggled to carve many clear cut openings before substitute Jeffrey Schlupp broke into the box to score late in the second half to give Palace a hard-fought 1-0 victory.

Eddie Howe made four changes to his side which lost at Tottenham on Saturday. One was enforced with Steve Cook missing out with a fractured wrist suffered against Spurs, allowing Chris Mepham in for his first Premier League start since August.

The other switches saw Adam Smith and Philip Billing return from illness and suspension respectively with Harry Wilson also called into the side with Jack Stacey, Lewis Cook and Ryan Fraser all dropping to the bench.

Recalled Mepham made a shaky start, caught on the ball by striker Jordan Ayew before hauling back the Ghanaian. Fortunately for Mepham, the resulting free-kick from Luka Milivojevic was blazed over the crossbar.

Mepham was tested again on eight minutes, turning behind a Patrick van Aanholt cross. The resulting corner fell nicely for James McArthur, who volleyed wide.

The flashpoint of the first half arrived on 19 minutes. After the ball was returned to Adam Smith following a throw-in, Frenchman Sakho lunged in on the right-back, nicking the ball before clattering into Smith’s knee with studs. Referee Anthony Taylor quickly produced a straight red card to reduce the hosts to 10 men.

And things continued to go against Palace 10 minutes later, when influential van Aanholt was forced off with a hamstring problem.

Despite having a man extra, Cherries were struggling to impose themselves on the hosts. The closest they came during a largely uneventful first half was following a long spell of possession which culminated in Arnaut Danjuma cutting the ball back for Billing on the edge of the box. The Dane let fly with his left foot, but his effort was straight down the throat of goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, who held on.

But Cherries did go close just two minutes after the restart. Harry Wilson’s low right-footed ball across the six-yard box just evaded a sliding Dominic Solanke and defender Martin Kelly was on hand to turn it behind as Callum Wilson prepared to tap home.

Ayew headed over at the other end before Howe turned to his bench, making a double switch with Simon Francis and Fraser coming on for Diego Rico and Danjuma.

Palace always retained their threat on the counter-attack and there were huge shouts for a penalty from the crowd when Zaha went down under the challenge of Mepham, but Taylor waved away the claims.

Francis then got forwards, seeing an effort deflected behind as Cherries pushed for a winner. Solanke was the next to break down the right, pulling the ball back towards Callum Wilson, but Kouyate got a touch to intercept.

But back came Palace. Shortly after Mepham had slid in to deny Ayew, the hosts were in front as substitute Schlupp burst into the box and fired low across goal and past Aaron Ramsdale to break the deadlock with 14 minutes to play.

Selhurst Park was still bouncing when the hosts went close to a second goal with McArthur calling Ramsdale into a fine stop from distance.

Lewis Cook was introduced in place of Billing but it was his central midfield partner who came close to grabbing a late leveller, with Jefferson Lerma’s deflected strike tipped away by Guaita.

Cherries: Ramsdale; Smith, Mepham, Ake, Rico (Francis, 64); H Wilson, Lerma, Billing (L Cook, 82), Danjuma (Fraser, 64); Solanke, C Wilson.

Unused subs: Stacey, Simpson, Gosling, Boruc (g/k)

Booked: Solanke, Lerma, Billing.

Crystal Palace: Guaita; Kelly, Tomkins, Sakho, van Aanholt (Schlupp, 29); Kouyate, Milivojevic, McArthur; Townsend (McCarthy, h-t), Zaha, Ayew.

Unused subs: Riedewald, Camarasa, Wickham, Benteke, Hennessey (g/k).

Booked: Milivojevic, McCarthy, McArthur.

Referee: Anthony Taylor

VAR: Christopher Kavanagh