Arsenal demolition, Tottenham delight: Crystal Palace's top five performances this season

With Crystal Palace’s 2020/21 season now over we can reflect on what has been a memorable campaign in south London.

Last summer the Eagles started on the backfoot, going through an extensive managerial search while simultaneously releasing 11 ageing first team players at the end of their contracts. When Patrick Vieira was eventually appointed, he was many punters' odds-on favourite to be the first manager in the league to lose his job.

But thanks to excellent recruitment from the transfer department, a new, attractive style of play set in place by the coaching staff and a fair but firm manager with high expectations of his players, Palace have flourished instead of floundered.

The team finished 12th in the Premier League table - two places higher than they managed the season before under Roy Hodgson - and even reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup for just the fifth time in the club’s history. Palace have drawn praise from commentators and pundits alike for their exciting brand of football, while genuine optimism has replaced the apathy that grew within the fanbase towards the tail end of Hodgson’s tenure.

It hasn’t been sunshine all the time, but Vieira and his team have delivered enough memorable results for the season to go down as a big success, given the upheaval at the club during the early weeks of the campaign. Below, ’s Palace reporter Mark Wyatt names his top five performances the Eagles have put in this season.

On entertainment value alone this match at Vicarage Road would probably rank above most of the other contenders, but it comes in lower at number five due to the strength of the opposition higher up the list. Palace came into this game desperate to get back to winning ways in the Premier League after a