Crystal Palace continued their outstanding record at Craven Cottage with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Fulham, booking a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals for a third successive season — a first in the club’s history.
Eddie Nketiah scored the decisive goal before half-time, making an intelligent near-post run to meet Óscar Mingueza’s low cross. The forward’s deft flick took the ball beyond Fulham goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte and added to his record of scoring at the ground in three different seasons and competitions.
Pierre Sage made 10 changes to the team that faced Newcastle United at the weekend, with Dean Henderson returning in goal after being unavailable since Palace’s previous visit to Craven Cottage. Cheick Doucouré also made his first competitive appearance since January 2025 and started for the first time since earlier that month.
Fulham began brightly and Henderson made an important early stop from Antonee Robinson, while Joachim Andersen headed wide. Palace grew into the contest as the half progressed, with Doucouré and Will Hughes helping protect a defence featuring Jefferson Lerma, Chris Richards and Honest Ahanor.
The hosts controlled possession for periods after the interval, but Palace defended their lead with determination. Henderson produced another key save to keep out Alex Iwobi from close range, while Ahanor and Richards made important interventions as Fulham searched for an equaliser.
Palace threatened at the other end through Evann Guessand, Dwight McNeil and Daichi Kamada, with Lecomte denying McNeil a second goal. Fulham continued to apply pressure late on, but Henderson held firm and the Eagles saw out the win to make it five consecutive victories at Craven Cottage and advance to the last eight.
