Steffen Iversen scored on his debut as Palace began life without George Burley with a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park.
Burley was responsible for bringing the former Tottenham striker to Selhurst Park but he was sacked following the 3-0 defeat to local rivals Millwall on New Year's Day.
Stephen Caulker denied leaders QPR victory with a dramatic late leveller to seal a 2-2 draw for Bristol City at Loftus Road.
Rangers, who dominated the game for long periods, were leading with six minutes to go through a penalty from Adel Taarabt.
As the game moved into stoppage time, Rangers failed to deal with Jamal Campbell-Ryce's corner and the on-loan Tottenham defender Caulker crashed a header into the net.
Norwich City moved into the automatic promotion places after claiming a hard-earned point from a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.
Leicester City moved to within four points of the play-off places after seeing off high-flying Swansea City 2-1.
Millwall stretched their unbeaten run to eight Championship matches by holding Derby County to a goalless draw at Pride Park.
Nottingham Forest moved to the brink of the play-off places as a Damien Delaney own goal gave them victory at Ipswich Town.
Shane Long grabbed a brace for Reading as they leapfrogged Burnley with a 2-1 win at the Madejski Stadium, after Ross Wallace had given the visitors the lead.
Hull City extended their unbeaten away run to eight games with a 3-2 win at Portsmouth. Barnsley secured a 2-1 win over Coventry.