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100 Years of Selhurst Park

## World Cup winner

> Having made more than 100 appearances for Crystal Palace and now a regular captain of the side, Marc Guéhi has matured well beyond his years since moving to south London.

He joined Palace in summer 2021, signing a five-year contract with the club, and committing his services until summer 2026.

Guéhi was born in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and moved to England aged one. He spent much of his early years in Lewisham and began his youth career with Bromley-based Cray Wanderers.

It didn’t take long for Guéhi to attract attention and, aged just seven, he was scouted by Chelsea.

Progressing over the following decade with the Blues, Guéhi did enough to stay at the club year on year and reaped the rewards with an immensely successful peer group.

Winning the treble with the Blues’ Under-18s in 2016/17, Guéhi signed his first professional contract in September 2017 and went on to help Chelsea scoop the quadruple – including the FA Youth Cup and league – that same season.

Guéhi’s Academy team helped to reinforce Chelsea’s image as one of the fiercest youth sides in England, as the centre-back played alongside the likes of Reece James, Tariq Lamptey, Billy Gilmour, Conor Gallagher and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

But it wasn’t just at club level where Guéhi enjoyed success with a noteworthy youth team, as the teenager won the Under-17 World Cup with England in 2017. Indeed, Guéhi captained the Young Lions to the U17 European Championship final that same year and scored in the World Cup final just months later.

These performances ensured Guéhi was rewarded with a taste of first-team football, and he began to be named in Chelsea squads in spring 2019 – being a senior substitute on four occasions in 18/19.

His breakthrough came in the League Cup against Grimsby Town as the Blues stormed to a 7-1 victory with Guéhi in the backline. He again earned professional minutes for Chelsea in a fourth-round defeat against Manchester United, and secured a loan move to Swansea City shortly after.

Guéhi fought to secure his place over a half-season with the Swans that was disrupted by the league’s suspension in March. Having returned from the pause, Guéhi played in Swansea’s final five matches and helped to clinch a sixth-place finish.

Play-off heartbreak came for the first of two times as Swansea lost on aggregate to Brentford in the semi-finals, but Guéhi went on to enjoy personal progression the following season regardless.

2020/21 was something of a landmark for the defender, who returned to Swansea on loan for a full campaign and played 45 games. He became recognised as one of the league’s brightest talents and helped Swansea climb further up the table with a fourth-place finish.

Swansea and Guéhi continued to go one better than 19/20 by reaching the play-off final, but football showed its unforgiving side once again as Brentford overcame them for a second time. Guéhi played in every minute of the three play-off matches.

Guéhi describes himself as “strong, comfortable on the ball and hopefully growing to be a leader one day.”

These traits are evident in his play, with the 21-year-old having captained England Under-21s and made himself a mainstay for Swansea despite being one of the squad’s youngest players.

His attitude became clear when a post-match interview with him went viral across social media. Having earned a spot at Wembley and consecutive Man of the Match awards from Sky Sports, Guéhi humbly rebuked the accolades by saying: “The first time I was really surprised. Now I think it’s getting a bit ridiculous! Everyone was fantastic today, to a man. I could name everyone. For me to get this again, I don’t know.”

On the pitch, Guéhi is assertive and vocal, often heard organising his teammates with confidence. This confidence is reflected in his willingness to drive out from the back and distribute possession from relatively high up the pitch.

His first season in south London saw him feature in all but two of the games in 2021/22, making 42 appearances in total. His first goal for the club came in a chaotic 3-3 draw against Burnley at Turf Moor. Guéhi captained the side for the first time against Watford in February 2022, becoming the youngest player to captain the side since Nathaniel Clyne in 2012.

A month later, he earned his first ever call-up to the full England squad and made his debut in a 2-1 win against Switzerland.

Guéhi continued to be a rock at the heart of the Palace defence in 2022/23, forming a formidable partnership with Joachim Andersen. He was nearly ever-present in 22/23, playing in 40 out of a possible 41 games.

The 2023/24 campaign saw Guéhi again continue as a stalwart at the back, though in the latter half of the season he did suffer a knee injury which kept him out for two months. He concluded 23/24 with 29 appearances in all competitions.

He was called up to the England men's senior squad ahead of the 2024 UEFA European Championship and earned his 10th cap for the Three Lions with a solid defensive display and clean sheet against Bosnia and Herzegovina in June 2024.

Guéhi played a huge role at the heart of the England defence in the 2024 UEFA European Championship, playing every single minute he was eligible for as England finished runners-up in the tournament. He managed to to keep two clean sheets and register an assist for Jude Bellingham's sensational last-minute overhead kick against Slovakia in the round of 16.

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### Summary:

- One change for Palace as Clyne replaces the injured Richards.
- **2:** Mateta hits the bar with a blazing strike from 25 yards in the opening seconds.
- **8:** Fernandes’ strike from a dangerous position inside the box is deflected over.
- **20 – GOAL:** Onuachu’s powerful header from squeezes into the bottom corner to end Palace’s long run of away clean sheets.
- **32:** Lerma’s long throws cause panic in the Southampton box, with half-chances for Sarr and Guéhi.
- **36:** Mateta spins on Clyne’s cross and shoots hard and low, but Ramsdale denies him.
- **42:** Onuachu comes close for Southampton twice in quick succession.
- **HT: Southampton 1-0 Palace**
- **50:** Eze pulls a low effort wide of the near post.
- **55:** Shouts for a penalty, but Bednarek wins the ball cleanly from Sarr.
- **58:** Glasner shuffles his pack as Chilwell, Kamada and Nketiah all come on.
- **71:** Nketiah races onto an errant backpass, but his prodded shot is smothered by Ramsdale.
- **90+2 – GOAL:** França scores his first Palace goal with a flicked header at the near post.
- **90+4:** Nketiah’s brilliant snapshot sails inches over the bar.
- **FT: Southampton 1-1 Palace**

Palace went into the game in imperious form, having enjoyed seven consecutive away clean sheets in all competitions – six of them wins, a joint-high in English football history.

And with the Eagles surging with confidence, Oliver Glasner’s side struck the woodwork inside 90 seconds when Jean-Philippe Mateta spun Jack Stephens with a lovely bit of skill.

Racing towards the box, and with defenders backing off, the forward arched a delightful effort towards Aaron Ramsdale’s top corner; the ball crashed off the underside of the bar, and spun away from the chasing Ismaïla Sarr.

Slowly, however, Southampton themselves appeared to gain confidence, as only a timely intervention from Marc Guéhi moments later prevented Mateus Fernandes a shot on goal inside the box; the ball deflected, thankfully, over Dean Henderson’s crossbar.

The opening stages were back-and-forth – but the opener, after 20 minutes, went the hosts’ way. Fernandes had too much time to pick out Paul Onuachu in between two Palace shirts, and the tall striker’s downwards header – from 12 yards out – beat Henderson’s outstretched hand for pace, creeping into the bottom corner.

It was the first goal Palace had conceded away from home since 18th December at Arsenal in the League Cup – and, in the Premier League, since the win at Brighton three days earlier.

It proved the catalyst for a more solid display from Southampton than many of recent times, with Palace struggling to find too many gaps in the final third.

A set-piece appeared the best route to goal for Glasner’s side, with two Jefferson Lerma long throws in quick succession troubling the hosts’ defence: the first did not sit kindly for Sarr before being cleared. A second, moments later, did fall to Guéhi inside the box, but his snap-shot was blocked by the sea of legs in front of him.

As half-time approached, Mateta would go close again, instantly bringing down Clyne’s fizzed cross and spinning sharply inside the box – only for Ramsdale to make a brilliant low save to deny Palace’s top scorer.

It could have got worse for the visitors before half-time, but Onuachu was unable to capitalise on neither an errant Palace pass at the back, nor an overhit Kyle Walker-Peters cross, in the closing stages of the half.

Glasner’s side had work to do heading into the second-half, and set about their task with renewed purpose; a fine cross-field dribble from Sarr made space for the No. 7 to feed Ebere Eze on the overlap.

Seeking to deceive Ramsdale, Eze’s effort towards the near post – rather than across goal – was just wide, and instead found the side-netting.

Eze was involved again seconds later as his inch-perfect slide rule pass released Sarr in the box, only for Jan Bednarek to slide in and win the ball as the Palace man prepared to shoot.

Just shy of the hour mark, Glasner sought inspiration from his bench, introducing Ben Chilwell, Daichi Kamada and Eddie Nketiah in a bid to refresh his side.

Palace continued to press for an equaliser and dominate possession in the second-half, but struggled to create against a well-organised home defence.

Yet those same Southampton defenders were almost the architects of their own downfall 20 minutes from time, as a loose Bednarek backpass was seized upon by Nketiah.

With the ball just in front of him, he prodded it goalwards – and was desperately unfortunate to see Ramsdale reach it at almost the same time, the ball deflecting off the ‘keeper, then the Palace forward, then behind.

It appeared to all be building towards a frustrating finale for Glasner’s side, with França introduced from the bench for the final 15 minutes to make his first Premier League appearance of the season.

It had already been quite the fortnight for França, who recently celebrated becoming a father – and then his 21st birthday the day before the match.

Good things come in threes, and with time running out, the Brazilian was well positioned – and improvised superbly – to produce a brilliant flicked header at the near post from Lerma’s low cross.

Ramsdale got a hand to it – but could not keep it out – and França, his teammates, and the sold-out away end celebrated the attacker’s first competitive Palace goal in jubilation.

There even appeared to be time to win it, with Nketiah doing brilliantly to gather Chilwell’s low cross, spin and half-volley towards the top corner. Ramsdale was beaten – but so too was the crossbar.

Nevertheless, after a battling evening, Palace dug deep to claim a point – and a draw which saw us match our previous club record of 10 consecutive league matches on the road without defeat.

**Southampton:** Ramsdale (GK), Walker-Peters, Downes (Archer, 89), Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Manning (Dibling, 80), Stephens, Fernandes, Sulemana (Welington, 80), Ugochukwu (Aribo, 70), Onuachu (Sugawara, 89).

**Subs**: McCarthy (GK), Bree, Wood, Bella-Kotchap.

**Palace:** Henderson (GK), Clyne (Kamada, 58), Lacroix, Guéhi, Muñoz (França, 76), Lerma, Wharton (Devenny, 86), Mitchell (Chilwell, 58), Sarr, Mateta (Nketiah, 58), Eze.

**Subs:** Turner (GK), Ward, Kporha, Esse.

### As It Happened

Matheus França scored a dramatic late equaliser at Southampton – his first competitive Crystal Palace goal – as the Eagles stretched their unbeaten run away from home to a joint club-record 10 league matches.

Report: França’s fantastic finale claims Palace point at Southampton

Southampton v Crystal Palace (2025-04-02)

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The Eagles largely struggled for rhythm at St. Mary’s Stadium and trailed to Paul Onuachu’s first-half goal until the closing stages – before França, a day after turning 21, popped up to put his injury troubles behind him with his first goal for the club since arriving in the summer of 2023.

“I think he really deserves that,” Nketiah told Premier League Productions. “He's had a tough time here so far with injuries, he's been unfortunate, but he's working really hard in training every day, pushing, and he's a really bubbly guy to be around.

“I'm delighted for him, obviously, to get his first goal. Hopefully it’s the first of many for him.”

On being forced to settle for a draw – although Nketiah himself came close to winning the game moments later with a sharp snap-shot over the bar – the Palace striker said: “We've been on a good run. We want to get three points all the time, but we've got to accept, obviously, they took the lead and we managed to come back.

“We take the point and move on, but of course we always want more.

“I think it's just the character of the boys and the team, the staff. It's just the kind of character we've built up through the whole season. We always want to fight, we always want to push.

“We have the quality to score goals, so we always know that even if we're down, we can bring it back. We were unlucky, and had the shot at the end that didn't go in. We were pushing and obviously we wanted to win, but we took the point.”


Palace had hit the bar inside the opening two minutes through Jean-Philippe Mateta, and Nketiah noted: “Obviously it was a great strike and JP at the crossbar, but it's football. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't.

“Like I said, obviously we wanted to get a win today, but we couldn't. I think everyone fought really hard, pushed, considering we played just a few days ago. We've just got to rest, recover and go again next game.

“Obviously we can't win every game. I think he [the manager] acknowledged the fight and character that we had to come back – [the fight] that everyone out there put in, tried their best, gave everything.

“Sometimes it's our day, sometimes it's not. We've got another game in a few days, so we've got to rest, recover and go again.”

Palace will look to call upon that same character and fight when they host rivals Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon.

Nketiah said: “Obviously, we know it's a big game. I think we can still play better as a team. I'm sure we're going to do that. We've just got to keep that character.

“We're going to have the fans behind us back at home. We look forward to a big game, and hopefully we can get the three points there.”


Eddie Nketiah says he was delighted for Matheus França, after the Brazilian’s first goal for Crystal Palace saw them snatch a late point at Southampton.

Nketiah: Matheus really deserved that moment

Matheus França's injury-time header claimed Palace a battling point at Southampton on Wednesday evening - and now it's time to choose your Player of the Match in the poll below.

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