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Crystal palace

      U18s Report: Dixon brace sees young Eagles secure first win of the season

      Aston Villa U18
      0
      4
      Crystal Palace U18
      Nascimento 36'
      Dixon 42' 84'
      Gibbard 45'

      Crystal Palace Under-18s secured their first three points of the season with a resounding win against Aston Villa. A brace from Junior Dixon along with goals from Zach Marsh and Adler Nascimento saw Rob Quinn’s side comfortably dispatch the Villains.

      Summary

      • Rob Quinn made two changes to the side, with Kphora and Hindolo making their first starts

      • The two teams were evenly matched for the opening half hour

      • Adler Nascimento curled Palace ahead in the 36th minute

      • Six minutes later, Junior Dixon doubled the lead from close range

      • Joe Gibbard added a third for Palace on the stroke of half-time

      • Half-time: Aston Villa 0-3 Crystal Palace

      • Palace were in complete control in the second-half, enjoying a lot of the ball

      • Nascimento came close to adding a fourth with 15 minutes remaining

      • Dixon finished from close range to seal his brace and Palace’s fourth with five minutes remaining

      • Full-time: Aston Villa 0-4 Crystal Palace

      U18 Match Highlights: Aston Villa 0-4 Crystal Palace

      A week on from their opening day defeat to West Ham, the young Eagles were on the road for their first away game of the season against another claret at blue opponent - Aston Villa.

      Rob Quinn made two changes to the side, with Caleb Kphora and Hindolo making their first starts of the season.

      The two sides were evenly matched in the opening half an hour. Zach Marsh had a couple of half-chances which James Wright in the Palace goal was equal to. Hindolo put in a fantastic sliding challenge to deny Omari Kellerman inside the box.

      Just after the half-hour mark, Adler Nascimento picked out the top corner with a scintillating curling effort from the edge of the box to put Palace in front. His goal capped off a well-worked move which was built up all the way from the back via 'keeper Jackson Izquierdo.

      Villa looked to find an equaliser straight after going behind and came close with Kobei Moore firing narrowly wide inside the Palace box on the volley.

      Six minutes after Nascimento put Palace in front, Junior Dixon doubled the lead. Marsh, who was played in by an excellent ball over the top from Mofe Jemide, slipped in a ball across the box from the wing and Dixon was in the right place at the right time to finish from close range past Wright.

      On the stroke of half-time, Dixon won the ball high up the pitch from a misplaced pass from Wright and managed to play in Gibbard who calmly slotted the ball into the back of an empty net.

      Palace were good value for their lead at half-time and looked to press on for more after the interval. The young Eagles were effectively in complete control after the restart, passing the ball around and enjoying the bulk of possession.

      The hosts had chances that were few and far between, the pick of which falling to Kyrie Pierre, though none of which were of any trouble to Jackson Izquierdo in the Palace goal.

      With fifteen minutes remaining in the half, Nasicmento tried to pick out the top corner once again from the edge of the box, though his effort was wide of the mark.

      Dixon had a chance to secure a brace and the fourth following a Palace corner with 10 minutes remaining, though the No. 9 had the ball nicked away from him before he could get a clear shot away.

      Moments later, he secured his brace with five minutes remaining. Marsh played a great ball across the box towards Dixon, after being slipped in behind by Kphora, and the striker made no mistake finishing from close range.

      Palace saw out the rest of the game with ease, sealing their first three points of the season. Rob Quinn’s side move into the top half of the table ahead of another clash in the West Midlands against West Bromwich Albion next week.

      Aston Villa: Wright, Rowe, Smith, Katsukunya, Barber, Alcock, Barnes, Pierre (Onuchukwu, 66), Moore (Mitchell, 69), Kellyman (Lynch, 45), Wilson.

      Subs not used: Lewis, Softley.

      Crystal Palace: Izquierdo, Kphora (Barton, 85), Jemide, Grante, Williams, Gibbard (Austin, 85), Hindolo (Socoliche, 63), Bell, Nascimento, Dixon, Marsh.

      Subs not used: Cardines, Eastwood.