Nketiah takes Crystal Palace past Fulham and earns Sage breathing space

If Crystal Palace could play all their matches in this stadium then Pierre Sage surely would not be under any pressure at all. A fifth victory over Fulham on their own patch in the space of 18 months courtesy of Eddie Nketiah’s goal against the run of play eased some of the growing pressure on the Palace manager as his side booked a third consecutive appearance in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. The good news for Sage is that Arsenal – who beat them on both of those occasions – have already been eliminated, although he knows Saturday’s game against Tottenham will have much more bearing on whether he is still around by the time the competition resumes in mid-December.

For Álvaro Arbeloa, this was a disappointing setback after a couple of weeks of progress. Fulham have not beaten Palace at home since January 2005 – a run of 10 matches – and will not get a better chance after Sage made 10 changes, including the inspired return of their captain, Dean Henderson, in goal. His save in injury time from Gonzalo García proved crucial and there were boos for Fulham at the final whistle. Arbeloa will be relieved he doesn’t have to face Palace again this season.

Continue reading…