Preview
Men’s first-team football returned to south London last weekend in what was a valuable run-out for Patrick Vieira’s men after three weeks out of action.
The Eagles were on top for much of the afternoon against Botafogo, and were unlucky not to make the breakthrough as Wilfried Zaha saw his penalty saved in the first-half, before some heroic defending kept the scores goalless after the restart.
Plenty of the squad gained minutes as Vieira made sweeping changes at half-time, including several Academy players. Northern Irish defender Kofi Balmer was a particular standout for his composed performance alongside James Tomkins and Marc Guéhi.
With Joachim Andersen and Jordan Ayew still away for the World Cup break, there are opportunities for youngsters to impress on the warm weather break to Turkey. Prolific striker John-Kymani Gordon, who also started on Saturday, has travelled, along with Tayo Adaramola, Jack Wells-Morrison and more.
