Crystal Palace Bag Place in FA Cup Quarterfinals With 2-0 Win Over Newcastle.

A tough game for both teams, but late goals from Crystal Palace’s Ashleigh Weerden and Abbie Larkin saw them bag a place in the quarter finals.

Both teams put up a great fight throughout, and the game could have gone either way. Despite just 1 shot on target for Newcastle, which came from Welsh international Lois Joel, the stakes were high and both teams had some excellent moments, but also struggled massively to get the all important goals. 

Newcastle’s goalkeeper, Claudia Moan, made some exceptional saves, stopping all shots from Palace up until the two goals in the final ten minutes. The game began with 2 early corners for Newcastle, but nothing came of them, as the opposition were on a roll and were able to deny the visitors of a goal.  

The first half began with possession for Crystal Palace, but as time went on Newcastle began to dominate, despite the target being unreachable. The second half was very stop-start, with a few injuries for Newcastle causing a few issues. Newcastle already had a disadvantage for today’s game due to many injuries among the squad, as well as all but one new signing being either injured or cup tied. This caused them to have a very limited bench and only 3 potential players on the bench, with the other two being standby goalkeepers. Emily Murphy was the club’s only new signing to play today, and she showed a promising start to her time with the Magpies, sending the ball closer to the goal with every touch.

Crystal Palace had a few stunning shots on target prior to their goals, including a shot from Mille Gejl hitting the crossbar, and Katie Stengel’s excellent shots which were also denied by Moan. The Eagles debuted their two new signings, Allyson Swaby and Ria Öling, as well as Elise Hughes making a long-awaited return from injury. The home side found Newcastle a tough opponent, causing little to no shots in the first half as the Magpies pushed through and rose to the challenge. 

After three second-half substitutes for Newcastle, bringing on Katie Barker, Jasmine McQuade and youngster Ava Chapman, Newcastle began to force some more pressure on the WSL side. Shania Hayles drove an excellent ball from Hannah Greenwood into the box, where her touch found Jasmine McQuade, but she only just fizzed her effort over the bar.

Lois Joel’s free kick was the only shot on target of the day for Newcastle, the fans that had travelled to Sutton had originally thought the shot had put their side ahead, but unfortunately it had dipped narrowly over Milla- Maj Majasaari’s crossbar.

As the end of the game got closer, Newcastle were determined to open up their own set of goals, but Palace were just that little bit more on the ball, stopping their chance of conceding. Palace’s goals came in the 81st minute and the 94th minute, proving the game to be tough on both sides. Newcastle fought hard until the very end, but it was Crystal Palace that secured their place in the quarter final of the cup, knocking a devastated Newcastle side out of the race.

Lineups:

Crystal Palace: Majasaari (GK), Woodham, Veje, Swaby (Larkin, 73), Riley (Öling, 46), Green, Gejl (Cato, 64), Potter, Blanchard, Stengel (Hughes, 90+4), Weerden (Larisey, 90+4).

Subs not used: Yañez (GK), Arthur, Gibbons, Sharpe.

Newcastle: Moan (GK), Stokes (Furness, 69), Stobbs (McQuade, 64), Hayles (Chapman, 84), Cooper, Greenwood, Andrews, Joel, Lumsden (Barker, 69), Murphy, Cataldo.

Subs not used: Donnelly (GK), Hawkins (GK).