Report: Palace Women beat Newcastle to secure place in FA Cup quarter-finals

Summary:

• Kaminski names a strong side against Newcastle, handing a debut to January signing Swaby
• 11: Weerden receives the ball on the ball line, but her cross can't be turned in by a Palace player
• 19: Newcastle get the ball in a dangerous position but Veje gets across to block the shot
• 33: An acrobatic effort from Cataldo sails narrowly wide
• 39: Blanchard strikes the post with a well-hit effort
• 43: Weerden cuts inside and shoots but her right-footed effort curls wide
• HT: Palace 0 - 0 Newcastle
• 46: Weerden attempts to get on the end of a great cross from Stengel but collides with the goalkeeper instead
• 53: Öling comes on for her debut and slides a fantastic ball through to Stengel, whose effort is saved by the Newcastle goalkeeper
• 59: Stengel is put through by Blanchard again but Moan is equal to the shot once again
• 63: Gejl hits the bar with a stunning effort from range
• 69: The ball drops kindly to McQuade but her shot is blazed over the bar
• 81 – GOAL: Weerden breaks the deadlock after she pokes Larkin's cross beyond Moan in the Newcastle net
• 87: Another great delivery from Larkin finds Weerden, but she has her shot deflected
• 90: A sensational save from Moan denies Palace from getting a second goal
• 90+2: Stengel gets put through but can't get past Moan
• 90+4 – GOAL: Blanchard finds Larkin on the right-wing and her deflected effort beats the goalkeeper
• FT: Palace 2 - 0 Newcastle

It was a match to remember in South London as Palace Women beat Newcastle United 2-0 at the VBS Community Stadium in the fifth round of the Women's FA Cup.

Late goals from Ashleigh Weerden and Abbie Larkin were enough to see the Eagles progress to a first ever quarter-final of the Women's FA Cup.

There were also debuts for January signings Allyson Swaby and Ria Öling, as well a long-awaited return for striker Elise Hughes.

Despite the score, Newcastle proved to be a very difficult opponent on the day with goalkeeper Claudia Moan making save after save.

There were little chances to speak of in the first half, with Annabel Blanchard going closest to scoring.

The ball fell kindly to the midfielder, and her half-volley ricocheted off the left post to deny Palace an early goal.

Newcastle had a good chance of their own in the 19th minute, but Katrine Veje was able to get across the forward and block her shot.

Milla-Maj Majasaari was otherwise untroubled in the Palace net in the first half, as the defence managed to keep the away side at bay.

Palace raised their intensity in the second-half, but were denied time and time again by Moan in the Newcastle net.

Katie Stengel was put through on goal twice within ten minutes, but the Newcastle goalkeeper managed to keep the ball out on both occasions.

Palace hit the woodwork again on 63 minutes, with Mille Gejl unleashing a ferocious strike that bounced back off the crossbar.

The pressure finally told on the 81st minute, with January's TEN Player of the Month Weerden breaking the deadlock.

Substitute Abbie Larkin found herself in space on the right side, drove to the by-line and whipped in a dangerous ball across the box.

In almost identical fashion to her goal against Spurs, the winger poked the ball past the goalkeeper with her first touch, to the delight of the home fans.

With ten minutes added on in injury time and with Newcastle pushing higher up the field, Palace grabbed their second goal to kill off the game.

Blanchard received the ball deep in the Newcastle half, looked up and picked out Larkin on the right-side.

The Ireland international moved the ball onto her favoured right foot and lashed it at the Newcastle goal.

With a slight deflection off of the Newcastle defender, the shot wrong-footed Moan and found the back of the net.

To cap off a historic day for the club, Elise Hughes replaced Katie Stengel in the final moments of the game to make her first appearance for Palace since April 2024.

This 2-0 win puts Palace in a first-ever quarter-final of the Women's FA Cup, with the draw for the quarter-finals will be held on Tuesday, 11 February from 18:30 live from Wembley Stadium, streamed on the Adobe Women’s FA Cup YouTube channel.

The Eagles' next game will be a tough test away against Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday, 16th February in the Barclays Women's Super League.

Tickets for that fixture are available here!

Palace: Majasaari (GK), Woodham, Veje, Swaby (Larkin, 73), Riley (Öling, 46), Green, Gejl (Cato, 64), Potter, Blanchard, Stengel (Hughes, 90+4), Weerden (Larisey, 90+4)

Subs not used: Yañez (GK), Arthur, Gibbons, Sharpe

Newcastle: Moan (GK), Stokes (Furness, 69), Stobbs (McQuade, 64), Hayles (Chapman, 84), Cooper, Greenwood, Andrews, Joel, Lumsden (Barker, 69), Murphy, Cataldo

Subs not used: Donnelly (GK), Hawkins