11.02.2015 22:55 h

Pardew's Newcastle old boys thwart Palace

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew's early reunion with his former club Newcastle United ended in stalemate as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in their Premier League match at Selhurst Park on Wednesday.

Papiss Cisse put the visitors in front just before the interval but Fraizer Campbell earned a share of the spoils 20 minutes from the end.

In a largely scrappy and fairly unmemorable encounter, Palace failed to capitalise on their lion's share of possession and saw their run of three wins out of four come to a stuttering halt.

On top for much of the first period, Palace were undone by one of Pardew's favourite Tyneside charges, Cisse, in the dying minutes of the half.

Cisse rose to meet defender Daryl Janmaat's cross and planted his header cleanly into the top right corner in the 42nd minute to earn Pardew's erstwhile assistant and now temporary Magpies' boss John Carver an early advantage.

Even so, Palace had a gilt-edged chance to get back on level terms a minute after the break when Janmaat fouled Wilfried Zaha on the left.

But Campbell's header from Jason Puncheon's free kick sailed wide of the mark.

Campbell did a great deal better with 70 minutes on the clock as he picked up Yannick Bolasie's cross and fired home left-footed into the bottom right corner for a deserved equaliser.

The result means that Palace have now gone nine home games without keeping a clean sheet, but the anticipated goal glut, given that the Magpies had scored at least twice on their past five visits to south London, never looked likely to materialise.

More worryingly for Carver, who is in charge at St James's Park until the end of the season and hoping to stake his claim for permanent tenure, the Magpies have now won just once in seven matches.