Watford 1 Crystal Palace 5

Crystal Palace eased themselves further away from the relegation zone with a crushing 5-1 win at Watford.

The Hornets were looking for some cheer following their FA Cup exit at the hands of Chelsea in midweek but Palace were in no mood to oblige.

Andrew Johnson was the tormentor in chief, as he scored twice in Palace's comfortable win at Vicarage Road.

Johnson set the ball rolling on nine minutes, heading home impressively, before Wayne Routledge doubled the advantage with a shot which proved too hot to handle for Lenny Pidgeley.

The turning point of the game came moments before the interval when Neil Cox was shown a red card for hauling down Johnson in the box and the striker added insult to injury when slotting home from the penalty spot.

Heidar Helguson reduced the arrears with a penalty on 58, but Julian Gray scored a fine solo goal and Dougie Freedman put some gloss on the scoreline with a neat fifth.