Mamadou Sakho and Luka Milivojevic hand Crystal Palace win bonus as Sam Allardyce gets priceless three points

Deadline day: Palace will pick up Sakho's wages until the end of the season
Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Giuseppe Muro1 February 2017

A busy day for Crystal Palace felt like a huge step forward in their fight for survival.

Palace recorded their first win in the Premier League under Sam Allardyce and also secured the deadline-day signings of Mamadou Sakho and Luka Milivojevic.

The Eagles are still in the relegation zone after Swansea beat Southampton but a resolute performance at Bournemouth gave them a priceless result. Palace kept their first clean sheet in the top flight since Allardyce took over and a brilliant defensive display will increase belief they can stay up.

After their win, courtesy of goals from Scott Dann and Christian Benteke, Palace confirmed the signings of Sakho from Liverpool on a six-month loan and Milivojevic from Olympiakos for £13million. Sakho completed his move to Selhurst Park in the early hours of this morning after a day of negotiating.

Palace agreed a loan fee of around £2m for the France defender and will pay his wages in full for the remainder of the season.

Sakho fell out of favour with Jurgen Klopp and his only football this season has been with Liverpool’s Under-23s.

“It is a new page for me,” said Sakho, who has been using a personal fitness coach to stay fit. “It is a big challenge and that is what I came for. I will give my best.”

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Milivojevic, a Serbia international, has bolstered the ranks in midfield and Palace also kept hold of Andros Townsend despite interest from Newcastle.

“I have been a long time waiting,” said Allardyce. “I have been asking the players to work around different ideas to perform better. We executed the gameplan exceptionally.”

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