Crystal Palace wonderkid makes U21 debut, young Eagles lose to ...

The Crystal Palace academy boasts some exciting talents, and now one has taken the next step in his development.

For the Eagles, a top-class academy player comes around every so often, and right now there are actually a couple who have the ability to end up as regulars.

Recent success stories include Wilfried Zaha, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Tyrick Mitchell, all of whom ended up key for Crystal Palace.

Dougie Freedman and academy director Gary Issott will be looking for the next name to come through and this season could be the perfect time – considering Oliver Glasner currently has the SE25 outfit 18th in the league.

On Friday night, the U21s were in action hoping to get the weekend off to a good start, here is how they fared.

READ MORE: Who is Dougie Freedman? The Crystal Palace Sporting Director linked with Manchester United switch

Crystal Palace U21 lost to Sporting Lisbon

Crystal Palace continued the defence of the Premier League International Cup on Friday night, welcoming Sporting Lisbon’s B side to Selhurst Park.

It was ultimately a loss for the Eagles in gameweek two of the tournament which Crystal Palace won last season, beating PSV in the final back in May.

Jemiah Umolu opened up the scoring in the 52nd minute for Darren Powell’s side – with the Eagles looking well placed to pick up a win after drawing game one 2-2 with Real Sociedad.

However, it was not to be as Sporting came from behind to win 2-1 with a double from Ferreira Goncalves in the 76th and 83rd minute, as club media has reported.

This will have been disappointing, considering the Eagles had a strong defensive contingent starting with Mofe Jemide and Rob Holding both in action.

The loss sees Crystal Palace sit sixth in the table of group D which comprises eight teams.

Jesse Derry makes first U21 appearance

Despite the defeat, there were a couple of positives for the Eagles – with Umolu’s goal being one – but another was the U21 debut for Jesse Derry.

At just 17, Derry is one of the most exciting talents Selhurst Park has to offer and in 2024 he has been on fire for the U18s.

This form has seen Glasner call Derry up into first-team training, which is a move that demonstrates how excellent he could potentially be – with first-team football in his near future.

But the question remains if this will be at Copers Cope or elsewhere, with Chelsea keen on Derry in the event he does not sign a professional deal with Crystal Palace.

Related Posts