Trevor Francis avenged one of the most heart-breaking days in his career as his Crystal Palace side sent Liverpool crashing out of the FA Cup at Anfield.

Francis, along with Andy Johnson and Dele Adebola, were all with Birmingham when the Reds defeated them in a penalty shoot-out at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to lift the Worthington Cup in 2001.

It has taken a while but Francis finally exorcised those demons by guiding Palace to only their second victory ever at Anfield in an amazing fourth-round replay - made all the more remarkable by the fact they played the last 20 minutes with only 10 men after Dougie Freedman had been sent off.

Liverpool subjected Palace to a constant barrage, creating chance after chance -with Michael Owen the main culprit on a shocking night of profligacy - but it was Palace's amazingly defiant defence that kept them in it long enough for Julian Gray and then an own goal from Stephane Henchoz from a Gray cross to send the Eagles soaring.

They now face Leeds at Selhurst Park in the next round as all talk of Liverpool going to Cardiff twice - they will meet Manchester United in the Worthington final next month - was totally destroyed.

And for Palace it was equal revenge for losing to Liverpool in the semi-final of that competition in 2001.

Liverpool had only themselves to blame for missing a hatful of chances. They had no Steven Gerrard, although did have Owen and the returning Dietmar Hamann back, and they sent about Palace like men possessed.

But they must have got back to the dressing room at half-time wondering how on earth they were not out of sight. A boxing match would have been stopped long before then to save the opponents from further punishment.

But Palace, who had lost only two of their previous 12, certainly showed they could defend.

Stretched across Anfield in jet black shirts, they constructed a wall of defence in which Kit Symons and Aussie Tony Popovic were outstanding.

Popovic will probably be facing Owen and Emile Heskey again next week when England play Australia at Upton Park, and he certainly got a close up view of what these two can be like in full flow.

All that was missing was finishing ability. Owen could have had five before the break, Heskey a couple and goalkeeper Cedric Berthelin - only in the side because of the row between Alex Kolinko and Francis at the weekend - performed heroics.

Bruno Cheyrou saw a first-minute effort touched over the crossbar, Sami Hyypia nodded inches wide before Owen skied one, chipped another inches wide and blazed over from six yards out.

Heskey, too, was showing power, strength and determined running and it seemed only a matter of time before Liverpool broke through.

Palace were under so much pressure that Francis made a bold move by taking off left-back Danny Granville and bringing on Dougie Freedman to add extra movement up front. Gray went to full-back and the idea seemed to be to give the hard-pressed defence a better target up front with their clearances to at least stop the ball pinging straight back at them.

In the dying seconds of the half, Berthelin managed a double save when Owen was clear again.

It got worse for Liverpool in the first minute of the second half when Heskey raced into 70 yards of unguarded territory with Owen up alongside him after a Palace move broke down.

Heskey chose to shoot as he entered the box, ignoring Owen, and Berthelin pulled off a fine save - and still no Palace players had got back into their own box!

Palace were being over-run but were still level and the nerves began spreading from the crowd to Liverpool's frustrated players.

Then the inevitable happened. Freedman crossed from the right, Adebola - with a clear header - failed to connect properly and there was Gray all on his own on the left to lash the ball past Dudek on 54 minutes.

Now the panic button had really been pushed. Liverpool piled forward, Cheyrou and Hyypia had headers wide as Liverpool took risks at the back, and Andrew Johnson should have scored again for Palace as they surged from defence. But Dudek pulled off an amazing last-ditch save, touching the ball just wide on 60 minutes.

Five minutes later Milan Baros was sent on in place of Murphy, Liverpool virtually playing four strikers by now such was their desperation.

But on 68 minutes the tension of the night got to Freedman. Challenged by Hyypia out on the line, for some daft reason he opted to whack the Liverpool captain in the face and referee Phil Dowd instantly produced the red card.

Diouf, Baros and Cheyrou all had chances as the barrage continued but Berthelin was a match to everything thrown at him.

And when Palace broke on 77 minutes Gray charged down the left, skipped past Jamie Carragher and fizzed in a low shot that Henchoz turned into his own net for the killer goal.

Liverpool toiled now, knowing they were beaten, and knowing only their own shocking finishing had cost them the game.

Palace had defended like demons but they will wonder just how they survived.

Teams:

Subs Not Used: Arphexad, Diao, Biscan, Traore.

Crystal Palace: Berthelin, Symons, Powell, Popovic, Butterfield, Mullins, Derry, Gray, Granville (Freedman 36), Adebola (Akinbiyi 90), Johnson (Thomson 88).

Subs Not Used: Black, Cronin.

Sent Off: Freedman (70).

Booked: Derry.

Goals: Gray 55, Henchoz 79 og.

Att: 35,109

Ref: P Dowd (Staffordshire).