Goals by Uche, Nketiah, and Pino help Crystal Palace to comfortabe win against Irish side Shelbroune in Dublin.
Post Match Assessment
Top performers (according to Fotmob):
- Christantus Uche (8.8)
- Eddie Nketiah(8.7)
- Yeremy Pino(8.5)
Another win and another clean sheet for the Eagles on their travels in Shelbourne. The home turf and loud support just wasn’t enough for the hosts to get into this game.
Palace’s quality just outshone Shelbourne who will be gutted to lose, realising their Conference League journey is now over. It’s safe to say it will be a relaxed journey back to England, after a dominating performance.
Palace never looked in doubt. A new front three displayed promising signs, with all of them claiming a goal. Despite the fresh attack, Palace played the same firm three centre back which, once again, showed why they have one of the best defensive partnerships in Europe.
Looking on what this means on the larger scale for Palace, it is very promising. It pushes them up to 9th position in the Conference League table, very high on goal difference. With Kuopion Palloseura next who are 25th in the table, this win sets the Eagles up very nicely to clinch a top eight automatic spot into the knockouts. Heading into half time 3-0 up allowed Palace to make changes, subbing key players like Adam Wharton, Yeremy Pino, and Daichi Kamada off, ensuring they’re fit for Sunday’s big game at home against Manchester City.
Patel’s Perspective
Wonderful. Soothing. It was just a calming piece of football to watch. Nothing too stressful for a Thursday night. I genuinely don’t think I have any negatives to take from this game apart from the fact that we should’ve been about 7 or 8 goals up by the end of the game!
Uche was unbelievable. Hopefully now Oliver Glasner sees his talent and why we signed him. It was also reassuring to hear the news this week that he will be staying longer, as there were some doubts. This gives him the opportunity to shine more in a red and blue shirt and potentially give Jean-Philippe Mateta some competition, considering the news that Nigeria dropped him from their AFCON squad. Mateta had better be looking over his shoulder and start performing again!
It was also great to see Romain Esse come on the pitch as well. I think I speak for all Palace fans when I say, he deserved a second chance, and tonight he proved why we spent £14.5million on him. He was literally a millimetre away from scoring a goal, hitting the post twice from the same shot – how unfortunate!
Walter Benitez coming in for Henderson was solid. The last minute save to keep the clean sheet was class and he is a great back up keeper to have, who should start against Arsenal in the League Cup and in our next Conference League match.
Glasner’s decision making cannot be overlooked as well. His tactics for our overall build up play was outstanding, creating numerous chances. Furthermore, his decision to leave Mateta at home, and taking the chance with Uche up top. His choice to play Justin Devenny in an unorthodox position. His choice to bring off our star players at half time. These decisions are all leading up to the important game on the weekend. With us having a full set of fit players for the match, we can be dangerous. We’ve outclassed Pep Guardiola multiple times now so Glasner and the boys won’t be afraid heading into this match. They’ll be roaring with confidence and spite.
How did you find comfortable victory over Shelbourne? What did you think of the performances by Uche and Esse?
