Relegation worries have been at the heart of Crystal Palace’s season. Heading into their clash against Newcastle, Palace sat 19th in the Premier League with one win from 12 and just eight points to show for their exhaustive labour.

The Eagles required a catalyst to kickstart their season. Victory over Tottenham in October should have been that—and in a way, it was. Performances improved, with Palace only losing to Fulham, but wins remained hard to come by.

However, with the busy festive period underway, during which Palace play nine games in a month, Oliver Glasner’s side had to ensure they began positively to gain the impetus and turn their campaign around. It took hard graft, but Palace earned a brilliant point, climbing out of the bottom three.

GO FURTHER

Off the back of a determined draw at Aston Villa last week, Glasner made two changes to his Palace side. Eberechi Eze returned after a month on the sidelines, while Jefferson Lerma made his first start since October’s victory over Tottenham. Cheick Doucoure and 21-year-old Justin Devenny dropped to the bench.

Newcastle showed promise inside the first 90 seconds when Lewis Hall’s looping pass over the top caused some trouble for the Palace defence. Albeit for the rest of the half, the theme of Palace control had emerged. 

Palace waited 15 minutes for their first glimpse at goal. Sarr’s lofted pass into the Newcastle box reached Eze, but Fabian Schar did enough to block the attacker's shot and deny the South London club the lead.

Chances were few and far between for both sides in the stop-start first half, but it was Palace who had the edge. Harvey Barnes replaced Alexander Isak after 22 minutes, with the winger's first involvement greeted by a crunching tackle from Maxence Lacroix.

The hosts neared an opener when Sarr shifted the ball wide to Daniel Munoz. The attacker burst to the penalty spot, with Munoz cutting it back. The move was stunning, but Nick Pope produced a good save to deny Sarr.

Munoz was involved again in the 35th minute. Palace put a wonderful attack together. They flaunted quick one-touch football, with a quick transition getting the Eagles away. Eze flicked it to Will Hughes, who released Sarr. The Senegalese international fizzed the ball to the back post. Munoz was waiting. It looked to be a certain goal until the Colombian miscued his shot and flashed it wide. 

Palace continued to build and finished the first half strongly, going close from a couple of corners. 

Perhaps the story of Palace’s season has been missed opportunities coming back to bite them. 

Eight minutes into the second half, the perpetual reared its ugly head again. Newcastle put together an excellent free-kick on the edge of the Palace box. Lewis Hall and Anthony Gordon stood over it. Gordon dummied it and ran towards the byline. Hall played it to Sandro Tonali, who released the runner, Gordon cut it back before Marc Guehi - who Newcastle chased all summer - turned it into his own net. Palace fell asleep and paid the price. 

(Image: PA) Albeit frustrating, the goal did not change much. Palace continued to look the more threatening and were creating the better chances.

On the hour mark, the hosts created another fantastic chance. Sarr was one-on-one with Pope, with the Englishman parrying the shot away. It fell to the ever-active Munoz, who fired an effort towards goal before Dan Burn recovered with an exceptional goal-line clearance. 

Ahead of Ipswich on Tuesday, Glasner decided to manage Eze’s minutes, pulling him off for Devenny in the 65th minute. 

Guehi almost made amends when his header from Devenny’s corner struck the roof of the net. Palace were getting closer but just missing the finishing touch. Another corner shortly followed, and another chance was squandered. Guehi guided a header to Jean-Philippe Mateta; the striker took a touch before blazing his effort over the bar - Glasner dropped to the floor. 

Hoping for a change of fortune, the Austrian coach determined all-out attack was the way to go, with Will Hughes and Trevoh Chalobah sacrificed for Eddie Nketiah and Jeffery Schlupp. 83 minutes had passed with Palace registering 15 shots to Newcastle’s one, yet the Eagles remained unable to convert. 

That was until the fourth minute of injury time when Munoz and Guehi linked up for the redemption act. Guehi launched a cross to the far post and Munoz was on hand to fire his header past Pope to rescue a point for Palace.

Cue chaos. Selhurst Park erupted, Glasner legged it towards the corner flag to celebrate with his team as Palace secured a more than-deserved point.

For their dominance, Palace should have walked away with all three points but paid the price for missed opportunities. However, a draw against Eddie Howe's Newcastle, who haven't dropped points after going ahead this season, marks a good start to the hectic weeks ahead.