Fulham Under-21s sealed a Semi-Final place in the Premier League Cup with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
Terrell Works gave the Whites an early lead at Motspur Park, and goals either side of the break from George Okkas and Callum Osmand fleshed out the scoreline.
We found a way through the Eagles defence after just seven minutes, when Works was sent through on goal and finished calmly past goalkeeper Joe Whitworth.
A second goal looked on the cards as the home side continued to threaten, and Okkas stung the palms of Whitworth with a thunderous drive after a corner was recycled.
Some brief respite arrived for the visitors when Adler Nascimento’s low ball in had to be dealt with by an alert Alex Borto, and then neat defensive work from Luc de Fougerolles prevented the oncoming Victor Akinwale from getting a chance inside the box.
Normal service resumed when Josh King also came close on the half-hour mark, showing great tenacity to get past his defender and unleash an angled strike that had to be deflected into the side netting.
Nascimento was then presented with Palace’s best chance of the half, but his radar was off, firing wide with just Borto to beat.
And the lead was doubled when Delano McCoy-Splatt twisted and turned in the box, with the ball eventually falling to Okkas to lash into the bottom corner.
Daylight turned to drizzle after the break, but the change in conditions didn’t result in a change to Fulham’s momentum. Okkas’s cross was glanced just wide by King for the first chance of the half.
Osmand was in a more clinical mood, making no mistake to guide his header home after excellent work from captain Matt Dibley-Dias.
Works could have claimed a second but Whitworth managed to get behind his piledriver, and the ‘keeper had to get down low again moments later to keep out Osmand’s effort.
A rare Palace chance fell to Danny Imray who was picked out at the back post, but a stunning reflex save from Borto preserved the three-goal advantage with 15 minutes left on the clock.
And Hayden Mullins's team saw out the remainder with relatively little issue to claim their spot in the Premier League Cup final four.
Fulham U21: Borto, Tanton, Araujo, De Fougerolles, Amissah, Dibley-Dias, King (Brad de Jesus 92'), Okkas (Olyott 72'), Works, Osmand (Loupalo-Bi 72'), McCoy-Splatt (Nwoko 83')
Subs: McNally, Nwoko, Brad de Jesus, Olyott, Loupalo-Bi
Crystal Palace U21: Whitworth, Imray, Farquhar, Devenny, Watson, Ferguson (Gibbard 64'), Rodney, Jemide, Mathurin, Akinwale, Adler Nascimento (Williams 64')
Subs: Francis, Izquierdo, Williams, Gibbard, Agbinone
