Crystal Palace reached the EFL Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 win at Fulham, despite being heavily outplayed for long periods at Craven Cottage. The result offered Pierre Sage some relief after a difficult run of Premier League results and set up a last-eight meeting with Sunderland.
Fulham controlled the opening stages and missed several opportunities through Kenny Tete, Rodrigo Muniz, Antonee Robinson and Joachim Andersen. Palace’s first attempt of the match produced the breakthrough in the 37th minute, when Eddie Nketiah turned Oscar Mingueza’s cross beyond Benjamin Lecomte.
The hosts continued to apply pressure after the interval, but Dean Henderson made a crucial close-range save to deny Alex Iwobi. He then kept out Gonzalo Garcia’s stoppage-time header as Palace held on for a narrow victory.
Sage acknowledged that Palace had relied more on determination than possession. His side finished with 25.6 per cent of the ball, four attempts worth 0.6 expected goals and only six touches in Fulham’s penalty area. Fulham, by contrast, had 14 shots, 1.5 expected goals and four Opta-defined big chances.
The victory was Palace’s fifth consecutive away win against Fulham in all competitions. It also secured consecutive EFL Cup quarter-final appearances for the first time since the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons. Sage stressed, however, that the performance must now translate into league points, with Tottenham identified as Palace’s next major focus on Saturday.
Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa was left frustrated by his team’s failure to convert its chances. He felt Palace defended in a low block and said his side needed quicker ball movement, greater use of the wide areas, more crosses and greater quality with the final pass.
