U21s Report: Honours even as Palace held by 10-man Bristol City

Summary

• Paddy McCarthy made four changes to the side that beat Newcastle

• Bristol City had a number of chances early on

• Ademola Ola-Adebomi had a gilt-edged chance saved on the half-hour mark

• Palace took the lead in the 39th minute after Killian Phillips headed home

• Seb Palmer-Holden equalised for the hosts in the stroke of half-time

• Palace reclaimed the lead a minute later through David Omilabu

• Half-time: Bristol City 1-2 Crystal Palace

• The Robins equalised just before the hour-mark through Joe Low

• Low was shown a straight red five minutes later after handling the ball on the goal line

• John-Kymani Gordon saw his penalty effort saved

• Palace couldn’t find a breakthrough in the time that remained despite a number of chances

• Full-time: Bristol City 2-2 Crystal Palace

One week on from securing three points away at Newcastle with a John-Kymani Gordon stunner, Paddy McCarthy’s Eagles travelled to the South West to face Bristol City in their third successive away game in the Premier League Cup.

Four changes were made to the side, with Owen Goodman, Kaden Rodney, Maliq Cadgoan and David Omilabu coming in for Joe Whitworth, Danny Imray, Jadan Raymond and Fionn Mooney.

The hosts were in control in the opening ten minutes. Sam Bell and Seb Palmer-Holden both had excellent opportunities to open the scoring in the opening five minutes, though both forwards fired wide of the mark.

Omar Taylor-Clarke whipped in a dangerous free-kick a quarter of an hour in and managed to pick out Joe Low ghosting in at the far post, though his goalbound header was well saved by Owen Goodman in the Palace goal.

Palace grew into the game, withstanding the early pressure from the hosts and managed to create chances of their own near half-hour mark. John-Kymani Gordon saw an effort blocked behind, while Ademola Ola-Adebomi had a gilt-edged chance that was saved by Will Buse in the Bristol City goal.

With just over five minutes to go, Palace took the lead from a set-piece. Killian Phillips found himself in the right place at the right time inside the box to head home his fourth of the season from a drilled Jack Wells-Morrison corner.

The Robins looked to find a way back into the game immediately after conceding and managed to draw level just minutes later before the stroke of half-time. Palmer-Holden fired a 25-yard effort that was turned behind and then managed to head home inside the six-yard box from the resulting corner.

It looked as though the two sides were going in level at the break, but Omilabu had other ideas. The Palace No. 10 found himself in the right place at the right time to tap in from close range, after Tayo Adaramola saw his cross from the byline parried into the six-yard box.

The frantic end to the first-half saw both sides come racing out of the blocks in the second. Palace came close to gaining a two-goal cushion, though Ola-Adebomi fired just wide of the mark immediately after the start of the second-half.

Sam Bell had a shot from a tight angle saved just five minutes after the restart, though the hosts managed to draw level once more through Low. The centre-back headed in from close range after a well-worked free-kick from Sam Pearson.

That would prove to be Low’s penultimate act on the pitch as he was shown a straight red card a few minutes later for handling the ball on the line. The centre-back denied Ola-Adebomi’s goalbound header from point-blank range, signalling a penalty for Palace.

Leading goalscorer Gordon stepped up from 12-yards, however his effort was by saved Buse and cleared by the recovering Bristol City defence.

With the man advantage, the Eagles looked to get their noses in front for the third time in the 25 minutes that remained. The pick of the Palace chances from Gordon and Omilabu were saved and ruled out for offside respectively.

After nine minutes of time added on, the referee brought an end to proceedings. The result means Palace are now a point clear of Sheffield United at the top of Group E in the Premier League Cup, with it all to play for in the three remaining fixtures.

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Bristol City: Buse, Pearson, Leeson, Z. Bell, Wood, Low, Taylor-Clarke, Owers (Hewlett 90+5), S. Bell, Palmer-Holden (Churchley, 85), Acey (Henry, 56).

Subs not used: Casa-Grande, Anderson.

Crystal Palace: Goodman, Rodney, Grehan, Phillips, Adaramola, Ozoh (Imray, 90), Wells-Morrison, Cadogan (Raymond, 75), Omilabu, Ola-Adebomi, Gordon.

Subs not used: Watson, Whitworth, Bartley.