Crystal Palace bounced back from consecutive defeats as first-half goals from Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze were enough to sink Bournemouth in front of the club’s new owners Bill Foley and Michael B Jordan.
Both goals came from set pieces as Palace punished Bournemouth for slack defending with Ayew nodding in a corner from Michael Olise, who also set up Eze for the second.
American businessman Foley and actor Jordan, who bought the club from Maxim Demin in a deal in excess of £100m earlier in December, were introduced on the pitch before kick-off but the sprinkle of Hollywood stardust did little to lift Gary O’Neil’s side.
“It’s the first time since I’ve taken charge that we’ve fallen well below the standards that we’ve set,” O’Neil said. “I’m furious about the goals. Defending set-plays has been a thing all season we’ve struggled with but they were avoidable today.
“I’m not looking for excuses. I take full responsibility. It cannot look like that in the Premier League because it’s ruthless.”
Both sides paid tribute to Pelé with a minute’s applause before the action got under way in atrocious conditions. Palace had an early opportunity when the ball fell to Jeffrey Schlupp inside the area but his effort was directed well wide of the left-hand upright.
The visitors took the lead after 19 minutes when Ayew rose highest to meet Olise’s corner and cushioned a header into the bottom corner from the edge of the six-yard box.
Olise was almost the provider again when he drove the ball across the face of goal from the right but was unable to find a teammate to add the finishing touch.
Palace extended their lead after 36 minutes from another Olise corner. This time it was Eze who made Bournemouth pay for slack defending as he curled a right-footed shot past Mark Travers from 12 yards.
It was the only the second time this season Palace had gone into the second half with a two-goal cushion.
The rain eased after the restart but there was no respite for the home fans as Bournemouth were unable to force their way back into the contest.
Vicente Guaita did survive several Bournemouth attempts in a goalmouth scramble while at the other end Travers blocked Eze’s free-kick and Jean-Philippe Mateta failed to hit the target after being picked out by Schlupp.
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Guaita was forced to make a rare save to deny Siriki Dembélé as Bournemouth failed to score for the third game since the resumption of domestic football following the World Cup before Wilfried Zaha skied a late effort.
Palace manager Patrick Vieira was delighted with the manner in which his side responded to the 3-0 home defeat to Fulham on Boxing Day. “It was a really good team performance,” Vieira said. “We were aggressive, we were disciplined and when we had possession we showed some quality.
“I didn’t believe we were the worst team after the game against Fulham and I still don’t think we have the best team after today. I invite everyone to be a bit more consistent in their emotions and to control their emotions.”