Benitez Stars As Palace Beat Millwall On Penalties

It was a midweek cup tie where the hosts never really got going and struggled to find that final ball which gave their rivals them every encouragement to find an equaliser, but Palace ended up being spot on.

MATCH INFORMATION

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 1 Dean HENDERSON, 3 Tyrick MITCHELL, 17 Nathaniel CLYNE, 42 Jaden RODNEY, 59 Rio CARDINES

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 5 Jake COOPER, 23 Joe BRYAN, 28 Ajay MATTHEWS, 43 Joel COLEMAN

POST GAME QUOTES

OLIVER GLASNER

“We are unbeaten now – this season it was our eighth game. At the moment, it’s more fighting than playing – so we fight for the points, for the wins, instead of playing for the points. I know there will be moments and games, and the time will come when we will play better and it will be a better performance, and we will win. It’s good to go to the next round, staying unbeaten. Unbeaten is important for us now.”

WALTER BENITEZ

“It’s difficult when you play in a derby – it’s always like a fight. We played a good game, and I think we created the most chances to score. But we are happy with this qualification, and now we think about the next round. It’s my first game with Palace, and I’m very happy because I don’t play after a long time. And for me, this one is like one gift, so I only enjoy this game. I know it’s special for the fans because it’s a derby, and so we are happy with this result.”

MATCH STATISTICS

TEB VERDICT

A strong Palace side got themselves through a difficult South London derby and into the next round of the EFL Cup, thanks to perfect penalties and a couple of saves from debutant Walter Benitez.

There were several bright moments in the game but the Eagles lost their way after failing to find those all-important final key passes when it good positions.

It is of course positive to progress and another victory this season courtesy of penalty kicks, but Oliver Glasner will not be particularly pleased with the performance which could have been so much better.

Still missing Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr, the Austrian went strong with his starting line-up, with impressive debuts for Jaydee Canvot and Walter Benitez. Worthy mentions also go out to new signings Yeremy Pino and Christantus Uche who excited but appeared too keen on impressing rather than relaxing and playing their own game, it will come for sure from both.

In contrast, we have a disappointing Romain Esse who showed glimpses but clearly not enough having been hooked by Glasner at the break. You have to think that this was a real opportunity against his former side and only time will tell what the future holds for him. 

Solid individual showings from Maxence Lacroix, Chris Richards, Daniel Munoz, and Daichi Kamada.

UPCOMING FIXTURES