27th Feb 2024 • Written by Henry Swain

Danny Imray brace inspires dominant Palace through to the semi-finals of the PL International Cup

Darren Powell’s Crystal Palace Under-21 side faced off against Wolves in the quarter-final of the Premier League international Cup on Monday evening at Sutton, the tournament that Palace reached the final of last season. 

A dominant Palace display saw the young Eagles win 3-0, with a Danny Imray brace followed by a Roshaun Mathurin strike to seal the victory. The win sends Powell’s side through to the semi-finals, where they will face either Everton, West Ham, or PSV Eindhoven.

Player Ratings

Joe Whitworth (GK) - 8

Whitworth was, as he has been so many times this season, flawless. His distribution was excellent, finding the wingers with drop-kicks time and time again. He commanded the side throughout the game and dominated in the air when defending his box. He was on the end of a nasty challenge at the start of the game but was able to continue, making comfortable saves when he was called upon. There’s no reason that Whitworth couldn’t have a strong future at the club. 

Danny Imray - 9 

A player who is thriving this season, Imray’s opener in the 15th minute got the scoring underway. He took a good first touch in the box and finished like a centre-forward with the outside of his foot into the bottom right corner. His one-on-one ability when going forward is brilliant; the ball seems to stick to his feet. On so many occasions, he finds himself the furthest forward of all of the Palace players, making runs into the box every time his side attacks, which has seen him heavily involved in the goals this season. 

In the 67th minute, he gave his side breathing space as he beat the keeper to an excellent Jack Wells-Morrison through ball, guiding a lopping effort into the back of the net from outside the box. He then played the ball into Mathurin, who carried it forward and sealed the game with a thumping finish. Two goals and an assist in a 3-0 win—that’s a Player of the Match-worthy performance, if we’ve ever seen one!

Jake Grante - 7.5

Making his first start at Under-21 level, Grante didn’t look out of place. He defended well and looked physically confident against a very aggressive Wolves side. There were occasions when he lost the ball, but he recovered into position and looked confident when he was defending. A positive first showing at this level for the defender. 

Craig Farquhar - 7.5

Farquhar’s signing looks like a real coup from Palace. He read the game excellently and stepped in to win possession ahead of the Wolves striker consistently. He won aerial duels all night long and proved to be a threat from set-pieces when he smashed a header against the bar in the 21st minute. 

On the ball, he cuts a calm figure, making assured forward passes and helping to get his side up the pitch with speed. A very solid performance from the centre-half. 

Noah Watson - 7.5

Similarly to Farquhar, Watson had a very solid game. He made some excellent last-ditch tackles, especially in the period of Wolves pressure, which came when the Eagles were 2-0 up. Watson defends with authority and has the unique ability to keep the ball when making sliding challenges, which saw him recover possession and launch attacks in one move. 

Dylan Reid - 7

The entire Palace midfield played the game with confidence and authority, playing a crucial role in the side’s ball recovery and retention. Reid worked tirelessly throughout the game and defended well, sniffing out danger and positioning himself to intercept the ball. This was the trigger for the Palace counter-attack, with Reid launching balls towards the forwards with accuracy and pace, which left Wolves short in defence.

Jack Wells-Morrison - 7.5

Wells-Morrison thrived in a congested midfield and demonstrated his long-passing ability for Imray’s second goal. He played an excellent ball through to the right-back, which lured the keeper out and gave Imray the opportunity to finish. 

Like his midfield teammates, he won the ball back consistently and was second to almost every loose ball. What stands out with Wells-Morrison is his technical ability on the ball; his passing, dribbling, and ball retention were elite in this game.  

Justin Devenny - 7.5

In the build-up to the first goal, Devenny took a long ball down on his head in sublime fashion before playing Mathurin down the line. He showed his versatility in the game, playing at both left-back and in midfield too. Devenny is a player who seems to have it all; he was strong in defence and audacious going forward. 

He carries himself like a Premier League player, imposing himself on his opponents with a tireless workrate to match his technical ability. He played a vital role in winning back possession for his side, especially when the game began to get scrappy in the second half. 

Victor Akinwale - 7

Akinwale put in a very solid performance against a centre-back who seemed more interested in throwing Akinwale around. On multiple occasions, the Palace striker was flung to the floor, but the referee failed to see many of these as fouls and even booked the forward when Pond made an exceptionally aggressive challenge on him. Akinwale remained on the floor without reacting, and as he got up, he saw a yellow card brandished in his face. It’s fair to say there wasn’t much he could’ve done differently. 

His hold-up play was strong for the most part, and when he did win fouls, it was in a similar style to Jordan Ayew. He showed a good turn of pace to get in behind and linked up well with Mathurin and Raymond on either side of him. Opportunities came few and far between, and he was eventually withdrawn for Nascimento in the 70th minute.

Roshaun Mathurin - 8

Mathurin took his time to get into the game. He wasn’t as quick to take his man on, but as the game developed, he grew in confidence. One area of Mathurin’s play that has always stood out is his crossing ability. Palace opened the scoring in the 16th minute, with Mathurin receiving the ball out wide before whipping a teasing cross into the path of Imray. 

As the game entered the second half, he cast a shadow of the winger that Darren Powell has become used to this season, threatening the Wolves defence throughout the final forty-five minutes. For his goal, Palace capitalised on a leggy Wolves side, with Imray pinging the ball into midfield, which set Mathurin one-on-one with Alfie Pond, who lacked the pace to recover. The winger sat him down and slammed the ball past Wolves’ trialist keeper, sealing victory for his side and firing them into the semi-finals. 

Jadan Raymond - 7.5

After impressing in training recently, Raymond has been involved with the first team, sitting on the bench for the 1-1 draw away at Goodison Park. In this game, he demonstrated his dribbling and passing abilities more than his direct attacking play. 

He was dropping into deeper positions to receive the ball and playing fast passes back into midfield to keep the attacks moving. His long passing was really impressive in, playing the initial ball wide to Devenny in the build-up to the first goal. A positive display from the winger. 

Subs

Adler Nascimento (70th min sub)

It was gutting to see Nascimento go off injured just fourteen minutes after coming on to the pitch for the first time since August. The forward looked bright in his cameo, pressing well and causing problems for the Wolves defence. He found himself one-on-one with Wolves’ keeper but failed to find the back of the net, drawing a particularly strong save before seeing the offside flag deny the chance. 

Everyone at The Palace Way is hoping this injury is not serious after a sliding tackle from Whittingham, who made absolutely no attempt to play the ball. 

Jemiah Umolu - Trialist (84th min sub) n/a

 18-year-old striker Umolu is on trial at the club. He currently plays for West Ham and scored eleven goals while registering four assists in the Under-18 Premier League this season. 

Vonte Williams (90th min sub) - n/a 

Chris Francis (90th min sub) - n/a

Player of the Match - Danny Imray

With a brace and an assist from right-back, it would be tricky to award this to anyone but Imray. It was an excellent outing from a player who has had a wonderful season, bringing his total haul to six goals and four assists in thirteen games this season. 

Opposition Players that stood out

A new addition to the match reports, we’ll be highlighting any players from the opposition that we think you should know about! In this game, the Wolves side lacked any cutting edge quality in a game where they were dominated by Palace. 

Aaron Keto-Diyawa

It was a bad night at the office for the young wanderers; however, winger Aaron Keto-Diyawa stood out, especially in the first half when the scoreline was close. He’s a skillful, dynamic winger who looked to take on Imray and Grante throughout the game. With bags of pace and a flair to his play, he looked to be the most threatening of a relatively blunt Wolves attack. 

Marvin Kaleta

Deployed at right-back, 19-year-old Kaleta faced a tough test in Roshaun Mathurin. He did well to keep the winger quiet in the opening exchanges, and as Mathurin grew into the game, he found more joy cutting inside and taking on Pond than he did when facing up to Kaleta. 

The defender also looked a threat when going forward; with good ball control and an eye for a pass, he was let down by poor final third movement from his teammates. It was certainly a solid performance from Kaleta, despite his side losing the game. 

What we learnt

Another new feature to the match reports, we’re going to highlight the key learning points from the match.

Firstly, Jake Grante should be playing under-21 football. He made the step-up tonight and looked confident, composed, and capable in what began as a tense cup affair. Now that he’s made the step, there is little logic to putting him back in the 18s, especially after he produced a performance that builds strong foundations for him to push on from. His teammates trusted him with the ball and were confident in his defensive abilities. This season has been a real learning curve for Grante, and he has excelled in recent months. A performance to be proud of. 

We also learned that this Palace side is capable of playing quick, passing football, even on a pitch as poor as the one at Sutton. Each player looked composed and assured when controlling the ball, with mistakes coming with little frequency. The defence and midfield didn’t struggle to find the right passes, playing the ball with pace and precision, which made the fast, counter-attacking style extremely effective. 

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