5th Mar 2024 • Written by Nicholas Moore

Imray and Mathurin star as Palace do it on a cold night in Stoke

Darren Powell’s Crystal Palace Under-21 side faced off against Stoke City in the U21 Premier League yesterday evening. Palace set the tempo of the match early on with a first-minute strike and did not look back; securing a 3-1 victory at Bet365 Stadium.

Danny Imray, Franco Umeh, and Roshaun Mathurin all got on the scoresheet for the visitors, further cementing the excitement around their potential. It was a brilliant offensive display from the team, who pressed highly throughout and committed many bodies going forward.

Player Ratings

Joe Whitworth (GK) © - 8
In simple, Whitworth was excellent. With four saves in the match, he made two massive stops on Potters midfielder Nikola Jojic; whose second-half one-on-one effort was brillitany denied by the Palace captain. Whitworth’s distribution was also sound; he often played the ball out to his wingbacks when open, and frequently acted as a sweeper to offer a passing option to his defenders. 

The lone goal scored by Stoke was at no fault of Whitworth’s. His defence failed to clear their lines which left striker Will Smith one-on-one with Whitworth, who ultimately made no mistake from in close. 

Danny Imray - 8 
Genuinely could’ve scored four in the first half. Imray scored in the opening minute, infiltrating the box on a counter attack and slotting home trialist Jemiah Umolu’s low cross past Alfie Brooks. He continued to attack throughout the full ninety; hitting a post towards the end of the first off an Umeh cross and missing the target on two separate occasions. 

Despite his offensive efforts, Imray sacrificed tracking back defensively at times when caught out of possession. On numerous occasions, he failed to reintegrate himself in the play due to fatigue; leaving the left wing open in the first-half quite frequently for Stoke to develop their attacks. He continued this trend throughout the whole ninety even with Palace up 3-1, bringing into question his situational awareness. The introduction of Nathan Ferguson saw Imray make a more diligent effort defensively, but would still rush into the opposition’s box rather needlessly on the odd occasion. He’s been great as of recent for the U21s, but needs to focus on both sides of the ball for him to make the next step. 

Kaden Rodney - 6
Rodney looked decent at times during the first half; intervening mid-way through by blocking a dangerous cross after Farquhar was beat off the dribble. His game was rather quiet, but he botched his clearance on the first goal and redirected the ball into the path of Stoke’s striker, who scored. Withdrawn in the 62nd minute.

Craig Farquhar - 7
Another solid game from Farquhar. Made clearances as needed, and was an anchor in the back for Palace defensively. 

He made the odd mistake at times; letting his man beat him on a few occasions and had multiple instances of miscommunication. Should be a simple fix for the Northern Irishman, who Palace will hope can follow a similar development pattern to Jake O’Brien.

Noah Watson - 7
Watson had a quiet game, and was rather unnoticeable towards the end of the match when moved to left wing-back. Not a bad game by any means, but rather quiet - which is a positive for any defender.

Franco Umeh - 8
Needed more than two hands to count the number of times Stoke left him open. He worked tirelessly on both sides of the ball; utilizing link-up play with Mathurin on offence to create from the left channel, and made sure to track back when he was dispossessed. Put in a beautiful cross to Imray towards the end of the first-half (that should’ve been capitalized on), and always made himself an option on the byline. Deserved his goal, and was fitting that Mathurin assisted it. Top match for a top prospect. Withdrawn in the 62nd minute.

Jack Wells-Morrison - 6.5
Wells-Morrison played as a traditional centre-mid today. When the attacking five were pressing, he acted as a holding midfielder, which helped maintain shape and stability in the back. Didn’t put in a wrong foot or make any noticeable errors today. On the contrary, he wasn’t a noticeable contributor on offence.

Justin Devenny - 7.5
Massive-goal line clearance from Devenny in the first-half to keep the score level, in which he had little time to react. He looked decent in the heart of midfield and made himself available as an option during build up play quite often. He had a key contribution for Umeh’s goal by winning possession back in midfield and starting the build up. 

Jadan Raymond - 7
Once again, Raymond’s dribbling and passing ability was on full display and was rather impressive at times; however, he could not add his name to the scoresheet. He utilized off ball movement to find space in channels when attacking, but did not look threatening in direct attacking play.

Raymond’s biggest contribution of the match came on the defensive side of the ball. He helped win back possession to start the build up for Mathurin’s goal, and showed a willing effort all match to adhere to his defensive duties. A decent performance for the winger, who should take pride in his willingness to defend. Withdrawn in the 78th minute.

Roshaun Mathurin - 9 (MOTM)
A wonderful performance by Palace’s most technically gifted prospect, who bagged a goal and assisted against Stoke.

Left-wing seemed to suit Mathurin who frequently beat his man off the dribble; appearing rather routine at this point. He linked up very well on the left with Umeh, and utilized give-and-go passing to create a number of chances along the left; ultimately resulting in Umeh’s goal. Mathurin also pressed high numerous times throughout the match and worked tirelessly to win back possession; which was rewarded in the opening minute as his press led to Danny Imray’s goal.

Towards the end of the match, Mathurin finally got his goal; deserved for all his hard work on the day. He received Dylan Reid’s long-ball and went one-on-one with the keeper; dribbling around him and running the ball into the net. Glorious. 

Jemiah Umolu (Trialist) - 7

Got the assist on Imray’s goal with a low, well-driven cross from the left. Tried to use his physicality to his advantage; showcasing his strength at times by holding off defenders when dribbling. Unlike his fellow attackers, Umolu did not seem a significant threat when attacking. It seemed rather that his teammates tried to build off him, as opposed to attacking through him. Withdrawn in the 78th minute.

Nathan Ferguson (62nd min sub) - 7
After five months of no football, Ferguson will be happy to be back. He looked comfortable in defence; winning tackles and competing in duels at centre-back and right-back. He had to cover for Imray at times due to his attacking tendencies, and did well to maintain shape and read the game. Ferguson didn’t look out of place despite missing action for almost half a year, and it will be exciting to see if he rejoins the first-team at some point. Welcome back, Nathan. 

Dylan Reid (62nd min sub) 7.5
Provided a calmness in midfield when he entered the match. Relieved pressure by playing simple passes at times, whilst playing an excellent long-ball to Mathurin for his goal. Calm, collected, and composed performance for the nineteen year old. Quite impressed with his maturity and situational awareness.

Victor Akinwale (78th min sub) - 6 
No significant actions to note. Helped see the match out defending from the front.

Adler Nascimento (78th min sub) - 6
Had one decent chance that was saved. 

Player of the Match: Roshaun Mathurin

This was Mathurin’s day, as he looked the best player on the pitch by far. Every time he had the ball in the opponent’s half, you’d have thought it would result in a goal for Palace.

Stoke respected his technical ability and thus gave him space to operate; it did not work. Mathurin ran with pace when the match opened up, and slowed play down when in one-on-one scenarios; highlighting his advanced attacking IQ through his understanding of Stoke’s defensive structure. 

The only noticeable flaw in Mathurin’s game was that he picked the wrong pass at times; for instance, he could’ve played Umolu clean through on the counter in the first half and instead chose to play it out-wide to Raymond. A minor fix for a superior performance from Palace’s number ten, who will look for similar success against Villa next week.

What We Learned

The attacking football displayed by Palace was impressive throughout the match. The three attackers and both wingbacks made a diligent effort to drive forward when in possession; outnumbering Stoke in the box on a number of occasions (which ultimately should have resulted in more goals).

If Mathurin continues to be deployed at left-wing and Umeh at left wing-back, the Umeh-Mathurin connection could build some real chemistry as the season progresses. Umeh is among the top five scorers in the league, and I’d expect his tally to increase with Mathurin’s services on the left.

For the future: The quartet of Whitworth, Imray, Umeh, and Mathurin were a level above the competition throughout the match. It is apparent at this point in their development, all four players require senior football; they are too good to be playing at this level for much longer.

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