Crystal Palace 1, Albion 2

Albion have not just done the double over Crystal Palace for the first time in 35 years.

They have taken the you know what in the process, with James Tomkins a transparent victim.

At the Amex in December, Glenn Murray put the Seagulls ahead with a penalty before injury forced him off.

Replacement Florin Andone ran the legs off Tomkins to clinch an improbable victory with a solo effort after a red card for Shane Duffy reduced Albion to ten men.

If Palace felt perplexed by the unorthodox turn of events that night, try this for size.

Albion beat them in their own backyard with two players not supposed to be on the pitch when they scored.

Tomkins must have dreaded facing Andone again when the Romanian was preferred to Murray in the only change to the team that recorded an overdue victory against Huddersfield.

Or at least that was how it was meant to be until Andone, his debut delayed until November by a combination of groin and thigh issues, was similarly hampered in the closing stages of the warm-up.

Murray was unexpectedly restored to the starting line-up and Jurgen Locadia added to the bench.

Andone, fresh from his winner against Huddersfield, was selected by Chris Hughton for a reason. He is a different animal to Murray, more suited with his superior pace to stretch defences.

It is no coincidence that the vast majority of Andone's limited number of starts have been away so, for all Murray's guile and goal scoring attributes, Albion's game plan was suddenly impacted.

The relief for Tomkins was shortlived when he misjudged a clearance upfield by Lewis Dunk and failed to head off the danger.

The Argus: Roy Hodgson blamed the wind, an excuse popular with Liverpool managers past and present. Murray (above) pounced to bury the 100th league goal in Albion colours he has been waiting for since scoring twice at Fulham in January.

The same Glenn Murray who, in the previous away game at Leicester missed an open goal from seven yards, took a far more difficult chance with clinical precision, a right-foot shot on the bounce into the far corner.

Such are the vagaries of his art form. It happens to the Agueros as well. They just dust themselves down and score again.

All of Albion's first half organisation and defensive diligence in retaining their lead was undone within five minutes of the restart by Davy Propper, another to be starkly reminded of the fluctuations of his profession.

After breaking his scoring duck at Leicester, the Dutch midfielder brought down Andros Townsend just inside the box.

Luka Milivojevic put away his eighth penalty of the season, including Palace's reply at the Amex.

That was no more than a consolation. On this occasion it threatened to be much more until Anthony Knockaert produced something out of not very much to swing the contest back in Albion's favour.

The outstanding Dale Stephens found the Frenchman with a crossfield pass. Knockaert (below), still with plenty to do, came inside Patrick van Aanholt and arrowed a left-foot drive into the top corner via the far post.

The Argus: Hughton had decided before then to take Knockaert off and bring on Solly March.

He went ahead with the swap as soon as Knockaert made his magical contribution, with good reason, since the game had opened up and there was more space by that stage for Wilfried Zaha.

Knockaert and Martin Montoya behind him had both been booked, the Spaniard midway through the first half for grabbing Zaha, the eventual matchwinner after a mere 28 seconds, the fastest in the Premier League for a decade.

Knockaert's 50-50 challenge for the ball with Milivojevic could have, perhaps should have, resulted in a red card rather than yellow from Craig Pawson.

It is hard to escape the suspicion it would have but for the proximity of the tackle to the kick-off, even though that ought to be irrelevant.

Knockaert's studs were showing as he caught the writhing Serbian in the groin region.

Albion are entitled to feel it was about time the fine margins worked in their favour. They have often been against them in recent weeks and they had a strong penalty claim of their own in the first half, when Scott Dann wrestled Shane Duffy to the ground from a free-kick.

The points outweigh the bragging rights, especially after subsequent wins for Cardiff, Southampton and Newcastle.

A bad day became even worse for Palace, who have been hopeless at home this season. They could yet have a shot at revenge and exploiting their counter-attacking strengths to better effect on neutral territory in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, although Tomkins might not relish that possibility.