Mitchell reflects on 200 Premier League appearances
Tyrick Mitchell paid tribute to the Crystal Palace fans for their role in helping the club secure a 2-1 win over Newcastle, on the occasion of his 200th Premier League game for the club.
At 26 years, seven months and 11 days old, Mitchell became the youngest-ever Palace player – surpassing the record of Wilfried Zaha – to reach a double century of matches for the club in the top-flight.
And the flying full-back even capped the occasion with an assist for the equaliser, as his cleverly disguised pass to Jean-Philippe Mateta – shaping to shoot to draw Aaron Ramsdale, before clipping it to the Frenchman to head home – set Palace on their way to a dramatic comeback.
“It's an amazing achievement to play that many games in the Premier League,” Mitchell said of the milestone.
“I'm just grateful that I've been blessed with not a lot of injuries and stuff to be able to hit 200 so quickly, so I'm just glad."
Mitchell was rewarded with a standing ovation in the closing seconds of the game, as he came off to be replaced by Borna Sosa.
He beamed: “The fans were great against Fiorentina and they were great again today.
"We go out there to play for them, to put smiles on their faces. I'm just happy that we were able to do that today.”
The game's never done regardless of the score
—Tyrick Mitchell
Up against a physical and fresh Newcastle outlet – playing their first game in three weeks – Palace were forced to bide their time for their breakthrough.
“It's always a difficult game against Newcastle,” Mitchell admitted. “They're one of the best teams at pressing, so we knew it was going to be hard, but we had a few chances.
“We pressed them well, so we knew that we were going to get chances. I'm just happy that we took them.”
Mitchell was also proud of his teammates’ response to being behind, even late on: “We're all together, we keep going at all times.
“The game's never done regardless of the score. I'm happy that we were able to turn it around.
“We've just got to keep going and keep performing on the pitch, keep training hard and hopefully we can bring more success to this club.”