Dwight Gayle scored a second half hat-trick as Crystal Palace defeated 10-man London rivals Charlton 4-1 in the Capital One Cup.
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Charlton fans turned on manager Pardew in 2008 after two poor seasons in charge at the Valley, but he had the last laugh as his rampant side breezed into the last 16 of the Capital One Cup.
“We need that, we haven’t scored for a couple of games so we wanted to score tonight to give everyone a little bit more of a confidence boost”.
Palace are also eager to get back to winning ways after consecutive losses to Manchester City and Tottenham, with the Eagles in a strong position this year to make an impact in cup competitions.
Alan Pardew’s Eagles dominated the first half at Selhurst Park but could not find a way past a resolute Addicks rearguard with Wilfried Zaha’s header and Gayle firing wide from 25 yards the closest they came.
But a minute later the former Hull striker made amends, digging Zaha’s pass from out of his feet, turning his marker and slotting low into the corner.
Gayle stepped up and made no mistake from the spot to double the home side’s advantage just before the hour.
Charlton halved the deficit through Mouhamadou-Naby Sarr who headed in Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s corner on 65 minutes. The defender had already been booked for the first penalty, but referee Neil Swarbrick this time showed him a straight red card for a professional foul before Gayle hit the net again.
There was still time for Gayle to complete his hat-trick when he headed in Chung-yong Lee’s corner for his third goal late on.
“We organised well in the first half, especially with a young team”, said Charlton manager Guy Luzon.
“After that, at 3-1, ten players, the game is over”. We have a lot of injuries and in our situation we had to use some young players.
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“We were pleased with Wilf, he was a threat all night and caused them problems, created chances for us and worked hard out of possession so he has responded in the right manner”.
