Tony Pulis enjoys winning return to Selhurst Park

Tony Pulis enjoys winning return to Selhurst Park

Tony Pulis made his mark on his return to Selhurst Park on Saturday as his current side West Bromwich Albion claimed a precious 2-0 win over his old club Crystal Palace.

A goal in each half from James Morrison and Craig Gardner gave the Baggies a first away win since early November as they ended a run of three consecutive defeats and took a huge step towards clinching top-flight survival.

West Brom are now eight points clear of the relegation zone, albeit having played a game more than Leicester City in 18th.

Palace, meanwhile, saw their superb recent run of form come to an end as they missed out on equalling the club record of five successive wins in the top flight.

The south London club have excelled since Alan Pardew took over as manager at the start of the year and have firmly put behind them the departure of Pulis right at the beginning of the campaign.

Pulis kept Palace up against all the odds last season but departed on the eve of this season amid worries that the squad had not been suitably strengthened over the summer.

After the brief but unsuccessful return of Neil Warnock, Pardew has got the best out of a side who romped to a 4-1 win at Sunderland in their last outing.

West Brom, in contrast, had leaked 10 goals in losing their last three matches but the form book was ripped up as they got off to a dream start.

The game was just two minutes old when a corner came to the unmarked Morrison, who headed in from eight yards.

That goal separated the sides at the interval, although Palace fans saw their appeals for a penalty dismissed by the referee after Wilfried Zaha went down in the box under a Gardner challenge.

The visitors then increased their lead eight minutes into the second period, Gardner latching on to a loose ball following a corner and beating goalkeeper Julian Speroni with a fine strike from 25 yards.

The closest Palace came to getting a goal back was when substitute Dwight Gayle was contrived to hit the bar from six yards, as it proved to be a great day for Pulis and the visitors.