Roy Hodgson summed it up best at full-time at Turf Moor: “Our left-backs don’t score that many goals. We’ve got to be very happy.” Tyrick Mitchell’s second for the club had earned Palace an important three points – but which other full-backs have found the net?
Mitchell’s only other Palace goal came more than two years ago against Aston Villa in a behind-closed-doors game, making his strike last weekend his first in front of a capacity crowd.
"The other one was just a flick of the shoulder, but I’m proud of this one because it was with my feet, so I’m happy that I kept it on target and I scored,” Mitchell said after the game.
“It’s a great feeling to score so I’m happy. It’s always good to score. I don’t do it a lot, but it was a great goal!
“When I saw Ebs get it, I just thought ‘let me get there’ – I had to tell Ama [Naouirou Ahamada] to leave it, I think. Thankfully he left it!
“I just thought ‘I need to get there’! It was a good finish, man! To be fair, in that position, I know just to keep it low and on target, so that’s what I tried to do. Thankfully, it went in.”
Mitchell is not the only full-back in the current squad to get on the scoresheet. In May, Joel Ward scored the equaliser against Fulham, but his 338 Palace appearances have included some more vital strikes. The most notable? The winner against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, thank you very much.
Nathaniel Clyne’s last goal for Palace came against Reading in 2009, his only goal for the club – but he got on the scoresheet for both Southampton and Liverpool during his time away from Selhurst Park.
Patrick van Aanholt was no stranger to a goal, scoring 14 times in his four years at the club. His most notable came in the final minute at Old Trafford, as he completed a lightning-fast counter-attack to stun Manchester United and seal a famous victory for Roy Hodgson’s Eagles.
On the left-hand side before Van Aanholt came Danny Granville, who joined Palace in 2001 from Manchester City and scored nine league goals, including three during the 2003/04 promotion-winning season – not to mention plenty of assists.
But the finest display of goalscoring from a Crystal Palace full-back has to go to Danny Butterfield, whose perfect hat-trick in against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 2010 FA Cup fourth round replay – in just six minutes and 48 seconds – has gone down in folklore at Selhurst Park.
For now it’s two for Tyrick, but with his finishing ability on show, it could be more to come.
