Psychologically, Newcastle United appeared to lose this game the moment Florian Lejeune pulled up with what looked like his second serious injury of the season.
The Magpies had played reasonably well for long periods, they had wasted a succession of chances, and they had also failed to turn a series of positive openings into opportunities.
Largely, however, they were in control of the match; Rafa Benitez’s side may not have looked confident in front of goal, but nor did they appear in danger of letting this game slip.
Yet, as soon as Lejeune went down, having landed awkwardly after tackling former Magpie Andros Townsend, Newcastle players understandably appeared distressed.
The Frenchman tried to plant his left leg, which appeared to buckle underneath him - and the pain was immediate.
Before he had even hit the deck, Lejeune could be seen gesturing that he needed to be replaced, and he starting writhing on the floor in agony.
Team-mates Jamaal Lascelles, Isaac Hayden and Ki Sung-yueng rushed to comfort Lejeune; as medics sprinted on to the field with a stretcher and strapped the centre-back up, the Frenchman’s fellow Magpies attempted to keep him distracted.
It was a magnificent show of camaraderie; and it was necessary, seeing as Lejeune’s disappointment would have been all the more acute considering he spent the first half of the season sidelined with a cruciate knee-ligament injury.
It is unclear at this stage just how serious the new injury is, though it is to his left leg, rather than the right as it was last time.
The centre-back spent almost two months in Rome rehabbing following his initial knee-ligament injury, and he was crestfallen by the first setback.
His renewed devastation was clearly felt by his team-mates - a succession of who, after the game, professed their sympathy for the Frenchman’s misfortune.
Whether Newcastle players were able to put the injury out of their minds during the final half-an-hour is difficult to deduce, but clearly the stoppage in play - if not the psychological impact of Lejeune’s accident - affected them.
Crystal Palace, who had been poor throughout, upped their intensity somewhat; Newcastle, meanwhile, lost their direction.
Miguel Almiron and Ayoze Perez became less effective, Salomon Rondon failed to hold up the ball as effectively, while substitute Jonjo Shelvey could not make the desired impact when he was brought on with 14 minutes remaining.
When DeAndre Yedlin needlessly upended Wilfried Zaha in the area, the sense of inevitability about how this game was going to unfold from the point Lejeune departed through injury proved well founded.
Luka Milivojevic duly dispatched the resultant spot-kick, and Newcastle never really threatened to pull level.
The effect Lejeune’s injury had on his team-mates shows how close knit this group of players is, and they all felt desperately sorry for the Frenchman - who left the stadium on crutches and with his left leg in a brace.
Hopefully his injury is not as bad as first feared, but his season certainly looks to be over. Newcastle have to make sure theirs doesn’t fizzle out in the manner it did last year - and they have to get that win to take them to the 38-point mark which will guarantee safety as soon as possible.
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