The Cherries were the dominant attacking force in the first-half but required a slice of luck with both of their goals, as Jefferson Lerma inadvertently diverted an early corner into his own goal and Junior Kroupi dispatched a contentious penalty.

Palace improved after the break, but a breakaway goal from Rayan put the Premier League contest to bed, with Ismaïla Sarr hitting the post for the luckless Eagles late on.

### Summary:

- Five changes for Palace as Riad, Devenny, Lerma, Johnson and Strand Larsen all come in.
- **10 – Goal:** Bournemouth score from a corner, Lerma inadvertently diverting in.
- **14:** Evanilson seizes on a Palace error, but blazes over.
- **19:** Rayan heads over from Jimenez’s delivery with Cherries on top in the early stages.
- **27:** Henderson makes a low save from Tavernier as Palace forced to weather a storm.
- **32 – Goal:** Bournemouth awarded a contentious penalty which Kroupi converts.
- **HT: Bournemouth 2-0 Palace**
- Glasner makes triple changes at the break: Mitchell, Wharton and Sarr all come on.
- **46:** The Eagles begin the half brightly with Strand Larsen testing Petrovic.
- **59:** Mitchell makes a vital tackle to deny Kroupi a clean shot at goal.
- **78 – Goal:** Rayan clinches the contest for Bournemouth.
- **82:** Mateta and Sarr both threaten in the closing stages.
- **89:** Sarr hits the post from Wharton’s curling pass, before dragging an effort wide.
- **FT: Bournemouth 3-0 Palace**

Crystal Palace’s 54th game of the campaign – in what could be the club’s busiest-ever season, with 60 matches in total should they see their semi-final through against Shakhtar Donetsk – arrived just three days after their last in Poland, whilst Bournemouth had the benefit of 10 days’ rest since their previous Premier League fixture.

Perhaps with the second leg of their UEFA Conference League semi-final in mind, Oliver Glasner elected to make five changes to his Palace starting XI, with Chadi Riad, Justin Devenny, Jefferson Lerma, Brennan Johnson and Jørgen Strand Larsen starting and Chris Richards, Tyrick Mitchell, Adam Wharton, Ismaïla Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta on the bench.

However, when the first-half kicked off to fireworks, flamethrowers and the crash of heavy metal music, all the spark stemmed from Andoni Iraola’s side.

Renowned for their intensity, Bournemouth hemmed the Eagles in from the early stages, and took the lead after 10 minutes in fortuitous circumstances.

Winning a succession of corners, James Tavernier delivered towards the near post, Marcos Senesi made first contact to flick on, and Lerma – devoid of luck – nodded over his own goal-line, despite an impressive attempt to clear the ball away by Dean Henderson.

The lead gave Bournemouth enough early encouragement to go on and dominate the half, Palace not helping their own cause with some slack play in possession. Evanilson capitalised on one such error, but smashed a shot over on his weaker left foot.

The attacks kept on coming, with Bournemouth’s advanced full-backs Álex Jiménez and Adrien Truffert increasingly influential – the former produced a wonderful whipped delivery on the 20-minute mark which Rayan headed over.

All the sharpness in the first-half was from the Cherries, and they cut through again on 27 minutes, Tavernier’s low strike across goal kicked away by Henderson’s left boot.

But then, on half-an-hour, the game was taken away from Palace. Henderson initially claimed a corner, only for the ball to bounce down.

As he dove forwards to reclaim, he made the slightest of contacts with Senesi’s heel – scarcely sufficient contact to send the defender sprawling – but despite VAR checking the incident, the referee’s decision to award a penalty stood, and Junior Kroupi subsequently converted.

Palace did well to stay in the game until half-time, roared on by an ever-impressive travelling support – and three substitutions at half-time saw Mitchell, Wharton and Sarr all enter the fray.

The response to a chastening half was immediate as Palace’s early second-half passing proved crisper, sharper, and more productive – Strand Larsen testing Djordje Petrovic’s handling from Mitchell’s pull-back inside the opening seconds of the half.

It was certainly more of an even contest but Bournemouth continued to pose a threat on the counter, with only a fine block tackle from Mitchell on Kroupi denying the Cherries’ goalscorer a second on the afternoon.

But with the sting drawn from the early stages of the second-half, it was the hosts who got the crucial next goal, as substitute David Brooks played in Rayan to finish across Henderson and well and truly settle the contest.

There were late threatening moments from Mateta – who almost diverted Lerma’s flicked header in from close range – and Sarr, who Petrovic dispossessed impressively when clean through.

There Senegal forward would twice go close in the closing minutes, hitting the post first-time from Wharton’s curling pass and dragging a late shot wide from Devenny’s cute ball.

But the damage had earnestly been done in the first-half on the South Coast, and the points were Bournemouth’s – Palace left to look ahead to Thursday’s European return leg at Selhurst Park.

**Bournemouth:** Petrovic (GK), Jimenez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert, Scott, Adams (Christie, 70), Rayan (Adli, 86), Kroupi (Brooks, 70), Tavernier (Gannon-Doak, 86), Evanilson (Ünal, 80).

**Subs:** Mandas (GK), Smith, Diakité, Tóth, Gannon-Doak.

**Palace:** Henderson (GK), Canvot, Lacroix, Riad (Richards, 75), Muñoz (Mitchell, HT), Lerma, Kamada (Wharton, HT), Devenny, Johnson, Pino (Sarr, HT), Strand Larsen (Mateta, 65).

**Subs:** Benítez (GK), Matthews (GK), Clyne, Cardines.

### As It Happened

Crystal Palace fell to a 3-0 defeat against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Report: Palace beaten away at Bournemouth

Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (2026-05-03)

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Jo Potter's side went into the final day knowing that three points would secure them automatic promotion, regardless of results elsewhere – whilst should the stars align, a shot at the league title was also possible.

But whilst Birmingham's win over Charlton at the Valley meant the trophy is bound for the Midlands, Palace's excellent 6-1 win over Portsmouth secured second place in WSL2 – and, with it, an immediate return to the top-flight!

Promotion caps a sensational turnaround in Palace Women's season, with the Eagles winning 12 of their 14 matches since mid-November – with just a single defeat in that time – to propel themselves back into the top league.

On that run, the Eagles were seemingly unstoppable, scoring 32 times and conceding just 12, to earn their place back in the big time.

Potter's Palace peaked at the perfect time and now finish the season in second place, having only entered the top two on the final day!

This result also means that Palace have secured automatic promotion to the Women's Super League for the 2026/27 season - where they will take on the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.

**For now, however, let the party begin in South London – WE ARE GOING UP!**

Crystal Palace Women have secured automatic promotion spot by finishing second in the Barclays Women's Super League 2, following a remarkable 6-1 final-day victory over Portsmouth in Sutton!

WE ARE GOING UP!: Palace Women promoted back to the WSL!

Crystal Palace Women v Portsmouth Women (2026-05-02)

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Crystal Palace FC's first-ever major European adventure is underway, as we battle to win the UEFA Conference League. Find out how you can join us on our journey.

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## From Academy to Premier League

> Having joined the Palace Academy from Brentford in 2016, Tyrick Mitchell rose to prominence rapidly at Palace and set the record for the youngest-ever player to make 200 Premier League appearances for the club.

Mitchell was a regular in both of Palace's Under-18 and Under-23 Professional Development League South winning teams in 2017/18 as he spent a second campaign featuring at both levels.

A recruit from Brentford at the end of the 2015/16 season, Mitchell, an attacking left-back with bundles of pace, impressed sufficiently for the Academy side to be handed a chance with the Development team in 2016. He used that experience to his advantage in 17/18 as he helped his two teams to silverware.

In 2018/19, Mitchell was a regular fixture in Richard Shaw's U23s team and joined the first-team on their pre-season tour in the summer of 2019.

After returning from an injury sustained while on tour, Mitchell made several first-team squads and earned his Premier League debut against Leicester City in July 2020. He went on to secure his first Premier League start by playing the full 90 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In April 2021, he signed a contract extension through til the end of 2024/25. Mitchell then followed this up with his first goal and assist for the Eagles, as helped the side to a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa in May 2021.

His performances throughout 21/22 saw him earn a senior England call-up for the first time in March 2022, making his debut in a 2-1 win over Switzerland.

Mitchell was nearly ever-present in 2022/23, featuring for Palace in 38 out of a possible 41 games in all competitions. He made his 100th appearance in red and blue against Tottenham Hotspur towards the end of the campaign and was also awarded the PFA Community Champion Award for his support for the Palace for Life Foundation.

He was again so close to being ever-present in 2023/24, this time only missing a single game through injury. Nevertheless, he continued to make the left-back position his own, and even stepping further forward as a left wing-back under new manager Oliver Glasner. Mitchell concldued the campaign with his best attacking returns, with two goals and three assists.

In 2024/25, Mitchell was one of the first names on the teamsheet - featuring in 37 out of a possible 38 league games. He kept 11 clean sheets in the league, assisting five times. 

He also kept four clean sheets in the games he featured in as Palace lifted the FA Cup.

November 2021, December 2023

Crystal Palace Player of the Month

Crystal Palace, 2021/22

Young Player of the Season

Crystal Palace, 2022/23

PFA Community Champion

Mitchell

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Tyrick reflects on his 200th Premier League appearance

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Match Action: Crystal Palace 3-0 Fiorentina

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Get ready for Europe!

Everett on team's promotion

**You can watch her full interview on Palace TV, embedded above!**

At just 24, Everett has now captained her side to two promotions in three seasons. 

She spoke about what it meant to have achieved such a feat.

Everett said: "Not many people achieve that. I'm really proud of myself and it's a huge achievement for my career, but I think both of those promotions wouldn't have happened without the team. 

"Both times we have had a great group of girls and we achieved what we deserved at the end of it. 

"What's happened can't have been done without everyone, staff, players, people behind the scenes, everyone."

The game was perhaps a microcosm of the season itself, where a slow and understandbly nervy start saw Palace go 1-0 down early on.

However, after a first-half Molly-Mae Sharpe equaliser - the Eagles rallied in the second-half to pull off a stunning 6-1 victory.

Reflecting on the game, Everett said: "I think we had our chances in the first half. Probably could have scored a few. 

"Ruesha [Littlejohn] especially probably should have scored that one! She had a good chance. 

"We came in halftime at one-one. And I think we just stayed relaxed and we knew we had it in us to see out the game."

She spoke about the team's turnaround in form, as they rose from being 11th in October to second-place in May.

"It was a bit of a rocky start to the season. It was not what we wanted, but the girls obviously dug in, dug deep. 

"We stuck together throughout those hard times and we showed it in our form over the past four months.

"And I think, at the end of the season, what we've got is fully what we've deserved," Everett said.

That win saw Palace promoted back to the WSL at the first time of asking, and this is what it meant to the captain.

She said: "Extremely proud to be back there. It's definitely where we belong. First time round, we were kind of unlucky not to stay there. 

"I think next year we'll definitely will and we'll show what we're really about."

Crystal Palace Women's captain Aimee Everett spoke to Palace TV at full-time, after she skippered her team to a second promotion to the Women's Super League.

Everett on sticking together, what changed at half-time, and a second Palace promotion

Match reports

Match reports

Report: Palace beaten away at Bournemouth

Everett on sticking together, what changed at half-time, and a second Palace promotion

WE ARE GOING UP!: Palace Women promoted back to the WSL!

Get ready for Europe!

3Tyrick
Mitchell

Match reports

Match reports

Report: Palace beaten away at Bournemouth

Everett on sticking together, what changed at half-time, and a second Palace promotion

WE ARE GOING UP!: Palace Women promoted back to the WSL!

Get ready for Europe!

3TyrickMitchell

3Tyrick
Mitchell