Nketiah takes Crystal Palace past Fulham and earns Sage breathing space

If Crystal Palace could play all their matches in this stadium then Pierre Sage surely would not be under any pressure at all. A fifth victory over Fulham on their own patch in the space of 18 months courtesy of Eddie Nketiah’s goal against the run of play eased some of the growing pressure on the Palace manager as his side booked a third consecutive appearance in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. The good news for Sage is that Arsenal – who beat them on both of those occasions – have already been eliminated, although he knows Saturday’s game against Tottenham will have much more bearing on whether he is still around by the time the competition resumes in mid-December.

For Álvaro Arbeloa, this was a disappointing setback after a couple of weeks of progress. Fulham have not beaten Palace at home since January 2005 – a run of 10 matches – and will not get a better chance after Sage made 10 changes, including the inspired return of their captain, Dean Henderson, in goal. His save in injury time from Gonzalo García proved crucial and there were boos for Fulham at the final whistle. Arbeloa will be relieved he doesn’t have to face Palace again this season.

Fortunes have contrasted significantly for these two sides since Palace’s extremely fortunate 3-2 win at Craven Cottage at the start of September. Arbeloa eased the considerable pressure on his shoulders with successive 1-0 victories against Hull and Coventry in the Premier League. He made six changes but retained some key players such as Alex Iwobi and the captain, Calvin Bassey, in central defence.

Sage had no choice but to heavily rotate his side after their exertions last week, which included travelling to Istanbul for the draw with Beskitas in the Europa League before facing Newcastle three days later. It was noticeable how much Palace tired after the break in that 2-0 defeat, which heaped pressure on their manager. No doubt with an eye on the game at Tottenham that could define the Frenchman’s future, Chris Richards was the only player to retain his place.

There has been talk of a protest before Palace’s next home game against Liverpool over rising ticket prices and what some supporters have described as the club’s strategy “which prioritises tourists instead of regular match-going fans” by playing loud music before kick-off and half-time. The visiting fans who packed the away section were in full voice during the opening exchanges, but saw their second-string side struggle against opponents who were clearly brimming with confidence.

Fulham went close twice in the space of 60 seconds when Kenny Tete headed wide from a corner before Henderson – back from a month on the sidelines – saved well with his feet from Antonee Robinson at the far post. Joachim Andersen should have done better with the next chance from another corner soon after but the Denmark defender could not hit the target against his former club.

With Cheick Doucouré making his first senior appearance in midfield since January 2025 after a litany of injury problems, Palace looked rusty all over the pitch and did not manage a single touch in Fulham’s box during the first half-hour, amassing just 22% of possession. But they still managed to take the lead when Óscar Mingueza found space down the right flank and delivered an inch-perfect cross for Nketiah to volley in expertly. After all their dominance, Fulham’s supporters could hardly believe their eyes. Sander Berge wasted an opportunity to equalise just before the break but his header sailed way over the crossbar and into the gleeful away section.

Palace came out much more positively for the second half and Evann Guessand forced Benjamin Lecomte into a save at his near post. They should have been punished when Honest Ahanor gave the ball away on the edge of his own area but Rodrigo Muniz’s shot was weak. Arbeloa turned to his bench and there were huge cheers for Josh King’s arrival. But Jefferson Lerma somehow managed to clear Iwobi’s header off the line as Fulham finally created a chance that their pressure merited.

The Palace substitutes Daichi Kamada and Dwight McNeil had late chances to seal the victory as Fulham pushed forward desperately. The Japan midfielder had his head in his hands when his shot sneaked just past the post with three minutes remaining. Fulham’s supporters could not hide their frustration at the whistle as Palace’s sang about another possible trip to Wembley.