It was a tough day on home soil with the Eagles proving difficult to break down.
Franco Umeh’s strike, against the run of play, gave the visitors an early goal.
City were caught off guard in the opening minutes of the second half as Roshaun Mathurin extended Palace’s lead.
A thumping strike from full-back Dan Imray sealed the win for Palace to see them travel back to the capital with three points.
WHAT HAPPENED
It was a comfortable start to the game for City as Brian Barry-Murphy’s side did what they do best and held the majority of possession.
Palace’s 4-2-3-1 formation was proving tricky to penetrate with man-to-man marking on Kane Taylor and Josh Adam making it difficult to use them as City looked to progress into the final third.
Umeh thumped the ball into the back of the net from close range after City failed to clear Palace’s first attack of the half in the 12th minute, catching the Blues by surprise.
City looked to retaliate with a handful of chances but the visitors denied the hosts from challenging goalkeeper Joe Whitworth.
Palace were happy to let City dictate play, forcing us to play intricate and accurate passes in order to try and break their sometimes six-man defensive line.
Palace held firm as they saw out the first half with a goal advantage.
City knew they needed to open the second half strong, but a misplaced Alleyne pass across the City box was picked up by Mathurin who struck the ball into the bottom corner 90 seconds after the restart.
As time ticked on, City began to test Whitworth more with Kane Taylor, Jaden Heskey and Josh Adam all going close to finding a goal.
Adam’s curling shot in the 78th minute almost snuck in before Whitworth caught the ball at the far post.
Galvez, who spent the majority of the second 45 in Palace’s half, also fired a shot towards goal but Whitworth again kept City at bay.
In a unique turn of events, City were then awarded an indirect free-kick inside the Palace box with eight minutes left to play.
Whitworth was booked for timewasting before Susoho hit a rolling ball into a flurry of on running Palace players determined to keep a clean sheet.
At the other end of the pitch moments later, Palace full-back Imray fired his shot into the top right corner for Palace’s third to secure the win on the brink of full-time.
HOW WE LINED UP
True Grant was in goal and protected by a back four of Lakyle Samuel, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Max Alleyne and Tom Galvez.
Mahamadou Susoho was deployed as City’s defensive-minded midfielder with Kane Taylor and Josh Adam looking to overload City’s attacks.
Our front line consisted of Joel Ndala on the right, skipper Micah Hamilton on the left with Jaden Heskey taking up the number nine position.
CITY XI: Grant, Samuel, Simpson-Pusey (Smith 41’), Alleyne, Galvez, Susoho (Fapetu 84’) , Ndala (Oboavwoduo 52’), Adam, Heskey, Taylor, Hamilton © (Dunbar-McDonald 84’)
Subs: Murray-Jones, Smith, Fapetu, Dunbar-McDonald, Oboavwoduo
CRYSTAL PALACE XI: Whitworth, Imray, Adaramola, Rodney, Grehan ©, Sheridan, Wells-Morrison, Ozoh, Ola-Adebomi, Mathurin (Raymond 77’), Umeh (Akinwale 86’)
Subs: Izquierdo, Watson, Akinwale, Reid, Raymond
WHAT IT MEANS
City drop to 22nd on goal difference following the defeat to Palace.
After nine games, the EDS squad have picked up six points consisting of one win and three draws.
WHAT’S NEXT
It’s back to UEFA Youth League action for Brian Barry-Murphy’s side.
It’s the final group game for the Under-19s as they travel to Red Star Belgrade with the ambition to stay at the group summit with an unbeaten record.
Their game takes place on Wednesday 13 December with kick-off scheduled for 13:00 (UK).
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