Nketiah reveals practice made perfect in South London derby
Eddie Nketiah says Crystal Palace’s training drills paid off when it came to his decisive goal against Millwall in Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie.
With the Eagles a goal and a man to the good heading into the closing stages, the South London derby remained in the balance against a physical Millwall team – only for Nketiah to produce a wonderful soaring header back across goal to make it 3-1 and put the tie to bed.
The No. 9 – an early introduction for the injured Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was caught with a high boot in the opening minutes – told Palace TV: “We’re sad JP took the knock, so we hope he gets back – we need him for the rest of the season. We'll be supporting him.
“I’m just happy to be back out there to help the team and get some good minutes – and obviously, it's always nice to get on the scoresheet!
“[My goal] was a nice finish! I haven't watched it back yet, but it felt good out there, you know. Something I've been practising [in training] is my heading, and trying to be more of a threat aerially. Obviously, I’ve now got two this season with that. I'm really happy with it.
“I don't care how they go in – if it's off my toe, my head, my bum, I'm happy to celebrate them all! That was a nice feeling.”
Nketiah’s second goal in two matches at Selhurst Park was a vital one, and came after collective celebration in the squad when the forward notched his first Premier League goal for the club.
The striker explained: “I’ve had a comeback from injury. I haven't had the minutes I would have liked, so it's been tough, but I've just tried my best to keep sharp, keep working hard.
“I think the reaction from my team-mates was really nice. I think they see how hard I work in training and how positive I try to stay, even when I'm not getting the minutes I obviously want, so it was a really nice moment. It's good to carry on that momentum today with another goal.”
On the tie itself, he noted: “We knew they [Millwall] are an aggressive, physical side, and with the derby, they're going to be pumped up.
“Sometimes football's like that. When you go down to 10 men, then they have that bit of energy to make it difficult for us, so we just had to stay patient.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult game so we had to stay ready. And when the moment came, obviously, it was nice to be able to get that goal and kind of just put us at ease a little bit.”