Norwich City 1 (Huckerby 16)

Crystal Palace 1 (Johnson 73)

Andy Johnson's well-taken equaliser secured Palace's first Premiership point of the season on an entertaining opening day at Carrow Road.

Last season's Division One top scorer expertly controlled a Wayne Routledge pass to tuck past Robert Green on 73 minutes, and cancel out Darren Huckerby's 15th minute opener.

The unfancied Premiership new-boys took a deserved share of the spoils, but Iain Dowie will be the happier boss after six new signings made impressive debuts and his Eagles clawed back a one goal deficit.

Hungarian striker Sandor Torghelle, 22, was the pick of the new boys with a rampaging physical display and deft touch that suggested he could be the perfect foil for Johnson's pacey breaks and deadly finishing.

But for the width of Robert Green's face, Palace would have got an instant return on their £750,000 investment, when the hefty forward broke beyond the Canaries defence and smashed the ball goalwards after the break. Unfortunately the ball struck the advancing Green full in the face and flew away to safety.

Another summer signing, defender Mark Hudson did not fair so well and it was his mistake on 15 minutes which allowed Huckerby to blast past Julian Speroni and open the scoring.

There looked to be no danger as Hudson casually ran towards ex-Eagle Matt Svensson's reverse through-ball, but Huckerby chased the ball down and shoulder charged Hudson as he tried to clear. As Palace claimed a free kick, Division One's player of 2003/4 controlled the ball and rifled it into the far top corner.

Norwich's main threat all afternoon, Huckerby took just five minutes to race clear of the Palace defence, but was eventually crowded out as he bore down on Speroni's goal.

But in an entertaining opening period Palace also threatened, and Torghelle twice demonstrated a solid technique to head and volley two chances narrowly wide of the target.

Buoyed by a near capacity crowd of 23,717, the Canaries now went for Palace's throat with on-loan Arsenal youngster David Bentley pulling the strings behind Huckerby and Svensson.

Damien Francis' 25-yard drive was deflected safely into Speroni's hands and summer signing Simon Charlton fired over on 30 minutes when the ball bounced into his path from a corner.

Undaunted, Palace came back into the game as the break approached but when he finally received possession from Granville, Finnish winger Joonas Kolkka was disappointing, shooting high into the stands after cutting in.

Palace's latest signing Fitz Hall, looked off the pace on debut in Aki Riihilahti's central midfield slot, but right back Emmerson Boyce had an excellent game, stemming a number of dangerous Huckerby breaks as the game wore on.

In the second half Torghelle gave defender Simon Charlton nightmares with his physical approach but should have done better than to hit Green's face from 10 yards.

Speroni was called on several times in the second half, making two fine stops from dangerman Huckerby.

On the hour Huckerby ghosted past Boyce before drilling a low shot across Speroni, which the Argentinian did well to parry and after the equaliser he plucked the same player's spectacular volley out of the air.

But by then Palace were the dominant force and Routledge was really starting to enjoy himself. On 72 minutes he broke out of defence and up the right touchline. When he cut inside two defenders, he found Johnson, marginally onside, to apply the simplest of two touch finishes into the far corner and spark delirium among Palace's 4,000 travelling fans.

Although Huckerby did test Speroni, it was Palace, reinforced by the arrival of Derry and Riihliahti for Kolkka and Hall who looked like snatching all three points. Derry was outstanding and his cross-field ball to Routledge set up a free kick which late substitute Dougie Freedman headed goalwards.

Green saved and was forced to do so again when Johnson headed Routledge's cross upward and unleashed a superb stinging volley which the future England keeper held at the second attempt.

Afterwards Iain Dowie said: "Their goal was a break away and it looks a clear foul for me. Nevertheless a great finish, but we would like to defend it better.

"The least we deserved was a draw. We had good possession and it was a great goal. I think Nigel will be less happy than I am with the point because they are the home team and you want to win your home games. "It's nice to be a mid-table Premiership side."

Match Stats Man of the match: Wayne Routledge A brilliant Premiership debut from the fearless 19-year-old, whose run and pass to set up AJ's equaliser finally broke down Norwich's back line. Always an attacking outlet for the team, his defensive contribution was also vital.

Palace: Speroni 7, Boyce 7, Popovic 7, Hudson 5, Granville 6, Routledge 8 STAR MAN, Hughes 6 (Freedman 89), Hall 7 (Riihilahti 78, 7), Kolkka 6 (Derry 78, 8), Johnson 8, Torghelle 7. Not Used: Kiraly, Black.

Booked: Granville.

Norwich: Green, Helveg, Fleming, Charlton, Drury, Jonson (McVeigh 64), Holt, Francis, Bentley (Edworthy 71), Huckerby, Svensson