- Palace Under-18s beat Arsenal 3-2
- A good reaction after defeat to Norwich
- Donte Martin scores brace
Crystal Palace’s Under-18s travelled to North London to face Arsenal in the U18 Premier League on Tuesday [28th April] afternoon. Palace looked to cement a top six finish against an Arsenal side who find themselves rooted in 10th place.
Fresh off the back of Premier League Cup glory, Palace fell to a 3-1 defeat away from home against Norwich City, but looked to right the wrongs from that night as they travelled across London to face Arsenal.
Javier Alonso’s side have had a successful campaign on all fronts. Losing in the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup against Manchester United, the young Eagles righted their wrongs in a return bout against the same side, winning on penalties to beat United in the Premier League Cup final at Selhurst Park.
An entertaining game saw Palace come from behind to win 3-2 away from home, Donte Martin scoring a brace which included the winning goal.
The win sent Palace fifth, just one point off West Brom in third.
Match Action
Arsenal took the lead in the 13th minute from the penalty spot, Ceadach O’Neill converting beyond Lucca Benetton to give the Gunners the lead.
Palace responded well, and came close through Chuks Okoli whose effort was cleared heroically off the line. In the 30th minute, Raihaan Anderson curled in a beautiful finish to draw the sides level going into half time.
Arsenal retook the lead almost immediately in the second half, as Louis Zecevic John rose highest in the Palace penalty area to head home from a corner.
Arsenal continued to probe and came close to extending their lead, however it was Palace who struck next.
A deep cross to the back post hit the crossbar as the ‘keeper opted not to punch clear, and the ball fell to Donte Martin who simply couldn’t miss from a matter of yards out.
Kairo Smith-Phillips was introduced to the action just after the hour mark.
Arsenal came close to regaining the lead in the 72nd minute, but their effort trickled wide of Benetton’s post.
Few chances came following that goal, but Palace broke down the right-hand side in the 82nd minute, and Donte Martin was found inside the six yard box to put Palace 3-2 up, and lead for the first time in the game.
Arsenal’s substitute goalkeeper came on outfield due to a lack of substitutes, and Anderson missed a glorious chance to seal the win.
Arsenal then came close to equalising but for a superb Benetton save.
A well managed final few minutes of the game saw Palace emerge victorious, despite the referee playing over ten minutes of additional time.
