Crystal Palace 2-1 Leicester: FA Cup dream still on for Neil Warnock

Neil Warnock's hopes of reaching a first major cup final are still alive after his Palace side downed Leicester.

The Eagles booked a fourthround FA Cup tie with fellow Championship side Watford thanks to Paul Ifill's deflected strike and Sean Scannell's clinical second.

While this tie might have had potential shock value it was not a night to cheer for FA Cup romantics.

Selhurst Park was virtually deserted as credit-crunched fans kept their cash in their wallets, and the stay-aways looked to have the right idea during a dismal first half.

Neither side managed to muster any kind of flow, although they were not helped by a string of stoppages.

Palace strike ace Victor Moses and City defender Aleksandar Tunchev were both taken off with injuries, but that was still a poor excuse for the lack of entertainment.

Alan Lee did have an early sight of goal when he received Moses' clever ball, but he fired over at the near post.

It took 38 minutes for either side to muster a serious effort on target - but it did produce Palace's opening goal.

Midfielder Nick Carle fed a neat pass into Ifill, who hit a weak shot from 12 yards.

It looked certain to dribble wide, but the ball took a deflection off Andy King's outstretched boot and rolled past keeper David Martin.

The Foxes rallied after the restart but were killed off when Scannell tore on to Lee's through-ball and slipped a low shot between Martin's legs in the 55th minute.

Max Gradel had caused some anxious moments in the Palace defence in the second half, and the winger got his reward on 90 minutes.

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