With both Palace and Coventry suffering defeats in their previous league outings the pressure was on both teams to get three points tonight.  However, it was the home side who looked the brightest as Ben Watson, returning after his injury at Bristol Rovers in the Carling Cup defeat back in August, released James Scowcroft in the fifth minute with only Sky Blues goalkeeper Demitrios Konstantopoulos to beat but saw his shot smothered well by the Greek custodian.

Coventry, who featured three former Eagles in their line-up in Dele Adebola, Gary Borrowdale and Leon McKenzie.  McKenzie had the first real chance for the visitors in the 13th minute when his second attempt in front of goal brought a good save from Julian Speroni, following his initial header.

Two minutes later a Stuart Green free-kick was placed too near Konstantopoulos, but Palace were warming to the job in hand and were becoming more and more dominant in the centre of the park through Watson and Soares.

McKenzie flashed another chance just wide in the 20th minute, but four minutes later Palace had another chance with Tom Soares' audacious flick leaving Elliott Ward for dead, before playing Dougie Freedman through the middle for a one-on-one with Konstantopoulos, but the Scotsman could only steer his shot wide of the post.

But Freedman was to have better luck just two minutes later in the 26th minute when he was played into the box from Scowcroft's knock-down and centred to the onrushing Stuart Green who cooly slotted home in the bottom right-hand corner from eight yards out to put the Eagles 1-0 up with a lead they deserved.

Coventry signalled their intent in the 33rd minute when Jay Tabb crossed to Ellery Cairo who headed just over but the Sky Blues could only manage one more chance in the first period as Leon McKenzie saw his shot well saved by Julian Speroni to take Palace into the break 1-0 up.

The opening exchanges of the second half were scrappy as both teams failed to create chances.  Iain Dowie introduced Leon Best to the proceedings in the 62nd minute, but it was Dougie Freedman who was the most lively in the final third as he created two chances in quick succession.

The first one in the 66th minute saw a clever exchange of passes with only Gary Borrowdale's last ditch challenge preventing a strike on goal.  A few seconds later Dougie was again creating with a flurry of passes across the park cutting large swathes in the Coventry midfield and defence.

With the back four of Cort, Hudson, Craig and Butterfield repelling everything the Sky Blues forward line could throw at them and following Tom Soares good run down the right wing in the 70th minute which resulted in a good save by Konstantopoulos from Stuart Green's shot, Iain Dowie replaced his two ex-Palace forwards, Dele Adebola and Leon McKenzie, in quick succession with Kevin Thornton and Robbie Simpson.

As a result of Coventry pushing for the equaliser, the game became more open which allowed Dougie Freedman the freedom to do what his does best and give the Coventry back four a run around with his clever link-up play and runs.

Palace Captain Carl Fletcher came close to doubling his team's lead in the 81st minute after an excellent James Scowcroft ball gave Soares the opportunity to pick out the forward run of the Welsh midfielder whose full-body stretch missed the ball by a whisker as the ball flashed across the six-yard box.

However, Coventry weren't about to give up and busy midfielder Tabb stretched the Palace defence to it's limit as his mazy runs and crosses caused havoc in the Palace box.

With Coventry looking the stronger of the teams in the closing minutes, Leon Best capitalised on hesitation in the Palace box as Kevin Thornton's pass found the former Southampton player who tucked the ball away in the 87th minute to make it 1-1.

With the game stretched and both teams looking for the winner Dougie Freedman found himself free in the six-yard box following Stuart Green's cross, but could only direct his shot into the Holmesdale to ensure the 1-1 final score.

Crystal Palace: Speroni, Craig, Hudson, Cort, Fletcher (c), Scowcroft, Freedman, Watson, Soares, Butterfield, Green

Subs: Flinders, Lawrence, Idrizaj, Martin, Dickov

Coventry City: Konstantopoulos, de Zeeuw (c), Hall, Ward, Hughes, Doyle, Adebola (Best, 62), Cairo (Thornton, 70), McKenzie (Simpson, 72), Tabb, Borrowdale

Subs: Marshall, Hawkins, Best, Simpson, Thornton

Attendance: 14,455

Scorers:

Palace: Green, 26

Coventry: Best, 87