Crystal Palace U21s 2-5 Fulham U21s

Fulham Under-21s produced a devastating attacking display to dispose of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Bank Holiday Monday.

Terrell Works, Martial Godo and Chris Donnell were all on target in the first half, though the hosts did get back into the contest with a late penalty.

But any threat of a comeback was extinguished in the second half thanks to Devan Tanton’s stunning volley and Godo’s penalty, with a 90th minute strike from Chris Francis a mere consolation.

An early opportunity arose inside the first minute when Matt Dibley-Dias pinched possession and found Godo out on his left. He beat his man but sent his shot too close to the goalkeeper from an acute angle.

That intensity maintained, though, and was promptly rewarded when Works made a yard of space for himself in the box before drilling across goalkeeper Joe Whitworth and inside the far post.

The lead was almost doubled on nine minutes when Donnell got a great connection on Tanton’s cross, only to see his header come back off the post.

It was relentless pressure from the young Whites, Tanton having a go himself this time as he smashed one at Whitworth from a very narrow angle, with Dibley-Dias crashing over following the subsequent corner.

The Tanton-Works combination down the right was causing Palace no end of problems, with the pair linking again in the 16th minute to put our scorer back in on goal, but a covering defender deflected his shot behind.

Whitworth is a player with Premier League experience, and showed his quality when he kept out Dibley-Dias’ penalty, a spot-kick the Fulham Captain had won himself when his cross struck an arm in the box.

Fulham were completely dominant and got the second goal our play deserved when Godo skinned his man before popping a crisp finish beyond Whitworth from an improbable angle.

After a little spell without creating anything clear cut, Dibley-Dias delivered a peach of a cross just before half-time to pick out Callum McFarlane’s run between two defenders, but the striker didn’t get enough on the ball to divert it on target.

Another Dibley-Dias ball did make it 3-0 before the break, though, with Donnell rising highest to head in the midfielder’s corner.

Palace had offered nothing at all in an attacking sense, but did pull one back in the eighth minute of stoppage time when Luc De Fougerolles was penalised for a foul in the area, with Jack Wells-Morrison converting from the spot.

That goal gave the hosts a real lift judging by the way they started the second half, dominating the ball more in five minutes than they did at any point in the opening 45. It was a spell which culminated in a shooting chance for Justin Devenny, whose 20 yarder struck the crossbar on its way over.

The Whites responded with a Dibley-Dias curler from 25 yards out. He caught it well but Whitworth was able to make the catch at the second attempt.

The next goal was likely going to have a big say in the outcome of the game, and it was Fulham who nabbed it – in some style, too. The ball did drop nicely for Tanton, though it was still on his weaker left foot and a difficult take, but the right-back absolutely wellied his volley into the far corner.

Moments later, a third penalty of the afternoon was awarded when Godo was hacked down. The winger dusted himself off to place a cool spot-kick beyond the reach of Whitworth, who had dived the right way.

George Okkas came close to adding his name to the scoresheet when Godo spotted his run and teed him up, but the substitute lashed into the side-netting.

The Eagles did manage to make the scoreline more respectable in the 90th minute, when Francis lashed in from close range after something of a goalmouth scramble, but it didn’t diminish what had been an excellent display in SE25.