Wednesday night’s win over Villa saw Palace make the last eight of the Carabao Cup for the first time in over a decade – so here’s five of the best things we’ve seen and love from Villa Park!
Jean-Philippe Mateta played the full 90 minutes at Villa Park, but not only was he leading the line, he was also leading the celebrations at full-time, and beyond!
His trademark ‘FANTASTIQUE!’ was replaced with him shouting ‘VAMOS!’ with Trevoh Chalobah also joining in. On the way out, he danced his way towards the team coach in some style.
Kamada came on as a sub early on in the first-half for Ebere Eze and made a strong impact, having the most shots out of any Palace player and, of course, scoring the winner.
This was his second goal of the season, having also scored in the second round against Norwich City. He himself said Oliver Glasner encouraged him to stay calm and score the winner, which he ultimately did.
Two in two weeks! From Asher Agbinone against Forest last Monday, to Matt Turner on Wednesday at Villa. The experienced American shot-stopper became the latest Palace debutant – our 1007th since joining the Football League in 1920 – with his start against Villa last night.
He went on to describe his first start in red and blue as a reward for his hard work…
Ebere Eze netted the opener for Palace with a headed effort, his first with his head for the Eagles since December 2023 against Brentford.
Indeed, it was only his third headed goal for the South London side, having also netted in a win over Wolves earlier in the 2022/23 season.
Of course, this is the first time Palace have got to the quarter-finals since 2011, when a certain Darren Ambrose scored the club’s Goal of the Decade at Old Trafford.
The side will take to the pitch at the Emirates against Arsenal in December for the quarter-final, but let’s take the excuse to rewind the clock and look back on Ambrose’s strike - 'not a bad effort' indeed...
