After a week of thrilling games of great significance, came a thrilling game of near total irrelevance. Surely the 12th spot in a Premier League table has never been so marvellously contested.
It was carnage, a glorious example of the mayhem that can happen when the children are allowed to bring in their toys on the last day of term.
Whatever stake there was in the game, whatever prize there was to be found, Crystal Palace took it. They got 12th, they got the extra cash the placing brings and with all that they got their record points tally for a 38-game season.
Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace survived a comeback to beat Bournemouth at Selhurst Park on the final day of the season
Batshuayi opened the scoring with an acrobatic volley after a defensive mix-up between Steve Cook and Jack Simpson
The 25-year-old celebrated the goal with his team-mates before adding a second to this tally just eight minutes later
The on-loan Chelsea forward then latched onto fiercely driven shot by Aaron Wan Bissaka to give Palace a two-goal lead
Jack Simpson then compounded a miserable first 40 minutes for the visitors by inadvertently putting the ball into his own net
Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma gave the visitors something to shout about on half-time with a 30-yard thunderbolt
The Colombian midfielder took advantage of some free space and seized the moment to rifle the ball passed Guaita
Bournemouth rallied after the break and made Palace sweat after Jordon Ibe drilled a right-footed shot into the bottom corner
Bournemouth had reduced the deficit to one goal with 33 minutes left and believed an unexpected comeback was on
Patrick van Aanholt restored Crystal Palace's two goal lead by finishing off an excellent team move with a calm finish
Wilfried Zaha teed up the Dutch defender with a deft pass and he raced over to celebrate with the Palace left-back
Josh King reignited the game as a contest just four minutes later by scoring at the back post after well worked corner
But Andros Townsend finally secured the three points with ten minutes left to play by finishing off a brilliant run by Zaha
Nice trinkets and better than a slap. But if there is a dampener in all that fun, then maybe it is the realisation of the tricky times ahead. Indeed, it will be lost on no-one at Palace that the man who orchestrated this win – Wilfried Zaha – might have played his last game for the club.
He has spoken recently about the size of his ambitions and his involvement in all five Palace goals will draw greater attention on the back of another good campaign.
Palace already have to deal with the return of Michy Batshuayi to Chelsea after he signed off his loan with two goals, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka, another good performer here, is said to be a target for Manchester United. It is entirely possible, therefore, that Palace and Roy Hodgson will start next without three of the men who made the close to this one so memorable.
Eddie Howe will also take some doubts into the summer with him. Aside from the future of Ryan Fraser, his standout attacker, he needs to figure out his defence.
It has been poor all season, albeit not helped by injuries, and by the close of this game his side had a defensive record that ranked in the bottom three for the division.
Crystal Palace (4-4-2): Guaita 6; Wan-Bissaka7, Kelly 6, Ward 6, Van Aanholt 7; Townsend 7 (Dreher 90), McArthur 6, Milivojevic 6.5, Meyer 6; Zaha 8.5 (Sako 87), Batshuayi 7.5 (Wickham 89)
Subs not used: Hennessey, Kouyate, Benteke, Riedewald
Booked: Zaha, Milivojevic, McArthur
Roy Hodgson 7
Bournemouth (4-4-2): Travers 5; Smith 5, Cook 5, Simpson 4 (Mepham 70, 6), Clyne 5 (Surridge 89); Ibe 6.5 (Mousset 70, 6), Lerma 7, Ake 6, Fraser 6; King 6, Wilson 5.
Subs not used: Boruc, Hyndman, Taylor, Butcher
Booked:
Eddie Howe 5.5
Ref: Roger East 7
Att:
MOM: Wilfried Zaha
