Crystal Palace vs Shrewsbury Town. Carabao Cup Second Round.
Selhurst ParkAttendance10,978.
Wednesday 26 August 2015 07:57, UK
Glenn Murray's extra-time penalty spared Crystal Palace's blushes as Alan Pardew's men eventually overcame Shrewsbury Town 4-1.
Replacement striker Murray buried Palace's second spot-kick of a low-quality Capital One Cup second-round clash at Selhurst Park, finally breaking Shrewsbury's stubborn resistance.
Chung-yong Lee rolled home minutes after Murray's strike, Wilfried Zaha then heading a fourth, to leave the gutsy League One visitors wholly deflated after a grafting effort in south London.
Matt Tootle's well-worked strike had Shrewsbury deservedly ahead in the early exchanges, but Dwight Gayle fired home a penalty to leave the full-time score 1-1.
Boss Pardew made good on his promise to hand Palace's fringe players their chance, making nine changes from Saturday's 2-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa.
Patrick Bamford and Gayle formed a new strikeforce, but that proved largely ineffective in a lacklustre first half.
Shrewsbury settled their nerves, then stole a lead that stunned the hosts.
Ryan Woods bossed the midfield before the break, his surging run setting Shrewsbury en route to the opening goal.
As Woods fed the ball into Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro's feet, Tootle bombed down the right flank, and the striker's reverse ball set him free.
Tootle duly drilled a low shot beyond Wayne Hennessey, leaving Palace flummoxed and out of sorts.
Winless in League One, the Shrews were unfazed at Selhurst Park.
Palace's class eventually told, even if their performance levels hardly scaled any first-half heights.
The first time the Eagles turned the Shrewsbury defence, the equaliser appeared.
Zaha was felled by a bunch of three chasing defenders, and Gayle dispatched the resulting penalty.
The interval did nothing to pep up Palace's performance, Bamford off target with an ambitious bicycle kick, while Gayle fired wide on the turn under little pressure.
Gayle's horribly miss-hit free kick gifted a fine chance to Lee, but the shocked Palace midfielder stabbed wide from mere metres out.
Those ruing the inevitability of extra time were quickly stunned by Palace taking the lead when Mat Sadler completed a comedy of errors by hauling Murray to the ground.
Both Jermaine Grandison and Murray flailed at the ball before Sadler's rustic challenge. Murray sprang quickly to his feet, however, and blasted home to settle the tie.
Resistance broken, Shrewsbury conceded again when Lee scampered through, cut inside the cover and rolled the ball home.
Zaha was then left to head the fourth in a limp second period of extra time.