Crystal Palace Under-18s head coach Javier Alonso praised his side’s collective performance after the Young Eagles kept their U18 Premier League Cup title defence alive with a scintillating 3-0 victory over Leeds United today.
Donte Martin’s brace and Raihaan Anderson’s close-range header secured three valuable points at a sun-drenched Academy, with Palace dominant for long periods and creating enough chances to have won by an even greater margin.
The U18 Premier League Cup features eight groups of four, with only the group winners progressing to the quarter-finals. Palace are in Group C alongside Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Aston Villa
The performance was outstanding
—Javier Alonso
Alonso was delighted to see his players rewarded for their efforts, having felt their performances in previous weeks deserved more.
“I’m very happy because I think the boys deserved it in many games before,” he said. “The performance was outstanding. They gave everything for the team.
“We played as a team, individuals for the team. I’m very happy because all the boys played very well. I think we deserved to beat Leeds.
“The first half was outstanding. The boys are improving, the team is improving, and they deserve the win.”
Palace made their attacking intent clear from the outset, pressing Leeds high, moving the ball quickly and repeatedly exploiting space in the final third. Martin opened the scoring in the 11th minute before Anderson doubled the advantage four minutes later.
The Young Eagles continued to threaten throughout the first half, and Alonso felt the scoreline could have been more emphatic by the interval.
“To be honest, I think we deserved to win 3-0 or 4-0 in the first half,” he explained. “We created a lot of chances. We played all the half in the opponent’s half, switching the ball, attacking, with a lot of crosses.
“We had many chances and we punished [them]. We deserved more than 2-0.”
The mentality is to go for more
—Javier Alonso
The head coach was equally pleased with Palace’s work without the ball and their discipline across different phases of the game, highlighting the collective contribution behind the clean sheet.
“All the phases worked – attacking, defending, set-pieces,” he added. “The boys were very switched on. I cannot say anything bad about the team today, about the players. Everyone was very good.”
With Palace having surrendered a two-goal lead in their recent defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, the importance of finding a third goal was clear. Martin duly delivered on the hour mark, racing through on goal before calmly lifting the ball over the advancing goalkeeper.
Alonso revealed that the message at half-time had been to maintain the same attacking ambition rather than settle for the existing advantage.
“We spoke about that in the dressing room. We needed to score another goal,” he said. “The mentality is to go for more. We need ambition.
“Donte punished [them] and it was 3-0. After that, we kept the ball more, played well, created more chances and defended very well. A clean sheet – I’m very happy for the boys.”
We have the chance to beat Villa and go through
—Javier Alonso
Martin’s second goal capped an impressive individual display, while Anderson’s contribution ensured both forwards had their names on the scoresheet. Alonso was keen, however, to place their performances within the wider strength of Palace’s attacking options.
“We have many good attacking players here in the Academy. We have a lot of talent,” he said. “Donte scored two, Raihaan scored one. I’m very happy for both because they deserve it.
“They are working hard and they are very good players. I’m happy for them because they helped the team to achieve the three points today.”
The result keeps Palace firmly in contention to progress from Group D, with a final fixture against Aston Villa now looming large. With Villa having beaten Nottingham Forest 6-0, victory in the Young Eagles’ remaining group match on Saturday, 7th November would put them in a strong position to reach the knockout stages.
Alonso is confident his side will be ready for the challenge, pointing to the progress made in recent weeks as a reason for optimism.
“It’s a very good result because we have the chance to beat Villa and go through,” he said. “I can see that the team is improving. I’m sure that we are going to improve more, and we will be ready for this game.”