Dowie dives in to defend Johnson

Iain Dowie today defended Andy Johnson after the striker was once again accused of diving.

The England international won and scored the 83rd-minute penalty which gave Crystal Palace a 3-3 draw with Norwich and then became embroiled in a fresh cheating controversy.

It was the 10th spot-kick Johnson had scored this season, equalling the Premiership record held by Alan Shearer. It also attracted sneers because it was the eighth one the former Birmingham player had earned himself.

Norwich's players claimed Jason Shackell's clumsy challenge on Johnson was not a foul, but Sam Allardyce went further. The Bolton manager, appearing as a television pundit on Match of the Day, said: "That is the best dive I have seen today."

Johnson's manager and team-mates came to his defence after referee Rob Styles missed a better penalty claim from the striker and also Norwich midfielder Youssef Safri's goalline handball in the first-half.

Palace manager Dowie said: "People have talked about contentious penalties but let's talk about Johnson's display. I thought he was purposeful, he ran behind people and committed men in the box. He goes beyond people and he is that quick if you make a challenge you are going to foul him.

"The first one was a foul and for the second one Andy says there was contact. In the end we got what we should have had in the first half. We only got one from three penalty shouts."

But the diving debate may serve as a useful distraction after a poor result for Palace, who took the lead against their relegation rivals through Joonas Kolkka and then had to retrieve a 3-1 deficit when Dean Ashton bagged two and former Palace striker Leon McKenzie added another. Michael Hughes began the fightback when he headed home a Johnson cross before Johnson netted that controversial penalty.