As part of their pre-season preparations, a Crystal Palace Under-17s side overcame Dundee United, Bayern Munich and Manchester United in a pre-season tournament at the Trafford Training Centre.
While the first-team have been on tour in Singapore and Australia, the young Eagles have been readying themselves for the 2022/23 campaign with a trip of their own.
A four-team, three-day tournament, hosted at Manchester United’s Trafford Training Centre, saw Palace face the Red Devils as well as Bayern Munich and Dundee United.
The south Londoners got off to a winning start against Bayern, with Adler Nascimento scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory on the opening day of the tournament.
Day two saw Palace triumph 6-0 over Dundee United, thanks to a Junior Dixon hat-trick, a Zach Marsh brace and a goal from skipper Freddie Bell. However, the victory was short-lived as United put two past the south Londoners in the following game of the day.
The initial victories ensured Palace would qualify for the final of the tournament on the third day – a rematch against the hosts United. It was a chance for redemption after the defeat the day before, and Palace duly took it.
A brace from Nascimento saw the visitors emerge 2-1 winners against the Red Devils and earned them the trophy – sealing a solid spell in Carrington.
“We had positive results," explained manager Rob Quinn. "We did well against Bayern Munich, did well against Dundee, and ultimately did well against Man United. [They were] a good level of opposition, the right level in terms of a challenge.
“They [the players] are spending three days together. We’re trying to get first-years to bond with the second-years. [Due to the pandemic] this group especially has missed out on a lot of tours and missed out on the exposure of playing foreign opposition and [it has been] all positive in terms of behaviours and team bonding.”
Photo credit: Simon Davies (Manchester United)
