A fantastic four: The story of Palace's stunning weekend

Club

6 Nov 2023

While many of us spent time gazing into the night’s sky this weekend, Crystal Palace’s senior men, women, Under-21s and Under-18s were producing fireworks of their own on the pitch.

When all four teams last achieved the feat of winning their respective fixtures in the first weekend of April 2023, we ran a breakdown of the numbers.

This weekend’s just gone? Even better. Played four, won four – scored 17, conceded just three, and progression up the league table in four competitions.

Here’s the story of a weekend which – shoehorned-in rhymes about November dates aside – Palace fans are unlikely to forget…

Friday 3rd November

Sensational Palace smash seven past Leeds

On a cold Friday night at the LNER Community Stadium, Crystal Palace U21s put in a performance sure to live long in the memory, hitting seven past Leeds United away from home to win out 7-1.

Four days on from the 3-0 win against West Bromwich Albion, the U21s travelled to Yorkshire as they looked to push up the Premier League 2 table, with Palace TV+ viewers watching on live.

U21 Match Highlights: Leeds United 1-7 Crystal Palace

They duly evoked memories of April’s sensational Premier League victory at senior level, as a hat-trick from Ademola Ola-Adebomi, along with braces from Jack Wells-Morrison and Justin Devenny saw Palace take the points – and no small measure of personal pride – back to south London.

The win saw Darren Powell’s side move up to 15th place in PL2, ahead of the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle United and Manchester City – and now well and truly back in form.

Tickets are available for the U21s’ next fixture at AFC Wimbledon, in the EFL Trophy, on Tuesday (7th November).

Saturday 4th November

Fantastic first-half puts five past Spurs

Not to be outdone by their Academy colleagues’ exploits, Palace’s U18s put in an exceptional display to soar past Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 away the following morning.

First goals of 2023/24 for Seb Williams and Tyler Whyte, along with a fourth hat-trick of the campaign for Zach Marsh – now already on 14 goals for the season – saw them claim all three points.

U18 Match Highlights Tottenham Hotspur 2-5 Crystal Palace

In truth, it was a frantic, thrilling first-half in north London, the young Eagles racing into a two-goal lead with 12 minutes on the clock, only to find themselves pulled back to level terms just eight minutes later – incredible live entertainment for the Palace TV+ viewer.

But away Palace went again, adding a further three strikes before the whistle – and threatening to add more after the restart – as they ultimately emerged 5-2 victors, moving up to sixth in U18 Premier League South to boot.

Schlupp and Mitchell pounce to beat Burnley

Mere hours later, Palace made it three out of three as Jeff Schlupp’s first-half goal – created by a fantastic piece of work from Jordan Ayew – and Tyrick Mitchell’s late finish proved enough for Crystal Palace to earn all three points against Burnley at Turf Moor.

The hosts enjoyed much of the early possession and applied pressure to the Palace goal, earning corner after corner as the Eagles looked to establish themselves in the game, but the Eagles were rewarded for their resilience when Schlupp slid in from Ayew’s cross after 22 minutes.

Match Action: Burnley 0-2 Crystal Palace

Impressive in their defending throughout, five minutes of additional time at the end saw Turf Moor find its voice once again – but it was Palace to have the last laugh.

The Eagles broke forwards, and Eze paused for the run of Mitchell, who raced on to the lay-off and tucked home for his first goal since 2021 – a third away win of the season moving the Eagles back into the top half of the Premier League table.

Sunday 5th November

Eagles win again as Hughes and Guyatt down Watford

Then, the sealer: Crystal Palace Women returned to winning ways with a bang on Sunday afternoon as they defeated Watford 3-0 away from home, thanks to an Elise Hughes brace and a Shauna Guyatt wonder strike.

As far as free-scoring forwards go, it didn’t take Hughes long to pick up from where she left off before the international break, as she netted her first of the afternoon – and 10th of the season in all competitions – with only three minutes on the clock,

Hughes had been teed up for that effort by Molly Sharpe – the same combination which led to the Welsh forward doubling Palace's lead with a header just before half-time.

Women's Highlights: Watford 0-3 Crystal Palace

The crowning moment came just before the break as Guyatt made it three to the Eagles in stoppage time as she got off the mark – her first professional goal – in spectacular fashion. The young midfielder found some space in the Watford half before thundering a strike from 30 yards out that bounced in off the crossbar.

The three points saw Palace stay fourth in the Women's Championship table, just four points off top spot – with a game in hand on leaders Sunderland – and with back-to-back home matches against Lewes (on 12th November in Sutton) and Southampton (on 19th November at Selhurst Park) to come.

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