Report: Palace Women return to the WSL with a win

Women

JUST NOW

It was a happy return to the Barclays Women's Super League for Crystal Palace as they beat Everton 1-0 in South London.

Summary:

Potter hands out seven debuts for our WSL return, while Hopcroft starts on her return to Palace
16: O'Brien spots Brosnan off her line but the goalkeeper recovers well to stop the ball from trickling in
25: Mace tries her luck from range but blazes well wide
34: GOAL - Lloyd-Smith gets in behind and pokes the ball home to score Palace's first goal of the season
41: Headed pass back almost results in an own goal but Peyraud-Magnin sees it wide
45: Everton strike the bar from a well-worked set piece
HT: Palace 1-0 Everton
65: Tsunoda wins the ball superbly and tries her luck from range, but Brosnan is equal to it
69: Substitute Larkin rattles the bar with a super effort from outside the box
77: England's shot flies just over the crossbar with Palace well on top
81: Ball falls to Vignola outside the box after a corner, but her well-struck effort is wide
89: Peyraud-Magnin heroically dives for a dangerous cross and wins a foul in the process
90+6: England blocks a shot on the line
FT: Palace 1-0 Everton

It was a day of firsts for many in South London today, with seven players making their Crystal Palace debut in the September sunshine as the Eagles returned to the Barclays Women's Super League.

From back to front, Palace had a different look to them - including an entirely new front three.

It was one of those front three - Lexi Lloyd-Smith, who proved to be the difference maker with a first-half goal.

Palace dominated the game for large stretches, and went close to pulling further ahead on a number of occasions.

Despite late Everton pressure, Jo Potter's side held on to claim an opening game win.

After a half-hour where the two teams appeared to cancel each other out, the breakthrough was finally made on minute 34.

It was new No. 7 Lexi Lloyd-Smith who fired Palace into the lead, and gave us our first WSL goal since May 2025.

A long ball from Aimee Everett was miscontrolled by defender Rion Ishikawa, and Lloyd-Smith pinched the ball and ran through on goal.

She accelerated beyond the scrambling Everton defence and poked the ball beyond Courtney Brosnan and into the bottom corner.

The stadium exploded as Lloyd-Smith was mobbed by her new teammates.

Chances did come at a premium in the first-half but Everton could have equalised with just seconds remaining - Zara Kramžar heading the ball onto the bar.

Thankfully she was denied and the first-half came to an end with Palace in front.

The Eagles dominated the second-half - with a midfield of Shanade Hopcroft and Fuka Tsunoda pulling the strings in the midfield of the park.

Substitute Abbie Larkin came on and saw her shot crash off the crossbar on 69 minutes, before Bethany England came close as well just minutes later.

With eight minutes added on - the pressure began to mount on the hosts but the Palace defence stayed resolute.

With a clean sheet on her debut, new goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin claimed cross after cross as they sailed into the Palace box.

It was No.9 Bethany England who made the save of the game though, blocking an effort on the line in extra-time.

The final whistle eventually went - and Palace had their first three points of the season.

Palace: Peyraud-Magnin (GK), Napier, Everett, Lloyd-Smith (Weerden, 84) England, Blanchard (Larkin, 61), Goldie, Hopcroft (Swaby, 89) Tsunoda, O'Brien, Bartrip

Subs: Yañez (GK), Erhabor (GK), Enge, Sharpe, Howat, Nolan

Everton: Brosnan (GK), Blundell (Hayashi, 80), Ishikawa, Wheeler (van Gool, 67) McNamara, Kitagawa, Vignola, Kramžar (Silcock, 80), Momiki (Cain, 67), Mace, Pacheco

Subs: Foster-Inman (GK), Hobson, Layzell, Finnigan

Related News

More News