Report & Highlights: Dominant Palace dispatch the Baggies

Summary

• Kaden Rodney makes his first start of the season amidst six changes

• Palace start incredibly well, Ola-Adebomi hits the crossbar

• Umeh’s effort is cleared off the line and Adaramola fires across the face 10 minutes in

• Mathurin, Ola-Adebomi and Umeh have multiple chances to find a breakthrough

• Adaramola and Imray consistently cause problems for West Brom down either flank

• HT: Palace 0-0 West Brom

• Ola-Adebomi breaks the deadlock three minutes after the restart

• Mathurin adds a second two minutes later

• West Brom threaten, but Sheridan clears Love’s header off the line

• Palace add a third through Ola-Adebomi in the 68th minute

• Umeh nearly scores as solo effort after running the length of the pitch

• Imray almost adds a fourth on the volley in stoppage time

• FT:  Palace 3-0 West Brom

Just six days on from the 3-1 win over Monaco in the Premier League International Cup, Crystal Palace Under-21s returned to league action as they welcomed West Bromwich Albion to the VBS Community Stadium.

Head coach Darren Powell made six changes to the side which won against Monaco, with Joe Whitworth returning in goal and Kaden Rodney making his first appearance of the season.

With the backing of the crowd at Sutton, Palace started well. The attacking trident of Ademola Ola-Adebomi, Roshaun Mathurin and Franco Umeh were proving near-impossible for the West Brom defence to deal with.

Umeh forced Ronnie Hollingshead into a save early on, after great work down the right-hand side, and then saw another effort cleared off the line just a couple of minutes later.

The resulting corner from Umeh’s shot being cleared off the line was taken by Mathurin and the Palace No. 10 picked out Ola-Adebomi at the near post, only for his glancing header to cannon back off the woodwork.

Tayo Adaramola got in on the attacking action, after combining well with Mathurin on the left hand side, glancing an effort across the face of goal.

Palace were piling on the pressure, with all of these attempts coming within the first 10 minutes of action. They continued to ramp things up as the half went on, in search of an opener.

Incisive play from Umeh after winning the ball back on the halfway line saw him pick out Dylan Reid. The Scotland Under-18 midfielder played a delightful ball out wide to Mathurin and a following ball into the box picked out Ola-Adebomi who just overhit his effort.

A well-worked move from back to front, starting with Whitworth, saw Adaramola carry the ball 40-yards before finding Ola-Adeobmi. The Palace No. 9 was denied once more as the Hollingshead tipped it behind.

The Baggies’ only real chance of note in the first-half came through Akeel Higgins - the winger fired a shot on goal after getting on the end of a knock-down, but captain Seán Grehan was in the right place at the right time to block his effort.

Half-time loomed and despite Palace’s near-total domination, they went into the break level. Mathurin had two attempts towards the end of the half which forced saves and another which was deflected out for a corner.

The Eagles had 19 chances of note in the first-half and came out in the second looking to break the deadlock. The opener duly came three minutes in through Ola-Adebomi.

Adaramola slipped the returning Jack Wells-Morrison through on goal - he saw his shot saved, but the ball broke kindly to Ola-Adebomi, who calmly headed in from inside the six-yard box.

The floodgates were open and Palace doubled their lead two minutes later. Excellent footwork from Umeh saw him drive towards goal before getting a cross away.

It wasn’t dealt with by the Baggies defence, as Wells-Morrison managed to feed an unmarked Mathurin inside the box to hammer home his fifth of the season and a second for Palace on the night.

The visitors grew into the game with Palace two goals to the good and fashioned their best chance of the game five minutes after conceding the second.

Higgins floated a ball across to Layton Love and the towering striker managed to head towards goal inside the box, however he was denied by a sliding Joe Sherdian who cleared his header off the line.

Powell’s side effectively put the game to bed with 20 minutes remaining when Ola-Adebomi secured a brace. A first-time ball across from Danny Imray was met by the head of the forward, finishing with ease past a stranded Hollingshead.

Mathurin almost got a brace of his own shortly after Ola-Adebomi, though he dragged a shot wide of the mark after the second phase of a corner. A sensational solo effort was on the cards for Umeh as he won the ball back inside the Palace half and raced forward past four defenders into the box, though his shot was turned behind.

In time added on, both full-backs almost combined for what would’ve been the icing on the cake. A perfectly floated ball into the box from Adaramola was met on the volley by Imray, though the ‘keeper did well to stop it after it bounced in front of him.

The referee brought an end to proceedings after seven minutes of additional time, which signalled a return to winning ways in the league for the Eagles. They now sit in 20th place out of 26th in the league, leapfrogging Manchester City and today’s visitors West Brom.

They are two points off Newcastle United in 16th place - where they need to be to qualify to the knockout stage of this season’s Premier League 2.

Palace: Whitworth (GK), Imray, Grehan, Sheridan, Adaramola, Reid, Wells-Morrison (Francis, 73), Rodney (Mustapha, 68), Umeh (Akinwale, 82), Ola-Adebomi, Mathurin.

Subs not used: Izquierdo (GK), Watson.

West Brom: Hollingshead (GK), Nelson, Shaw (Kirton, 53), Richards, Hall, Phillips (Bostock, 84), Walker (Mandey, 45), Mfuamba, Love (Sule, 84), Heard, Higgins.

Sub not used: Cisse (GK).