Nketiah takes Crystal Palace past Fulham and earns Sage breathing space

“Can we play you every week?” chanted the Crystal Palace fans as they celebrated a fifth victory over Fulham on their own patch in the space of 18 months. Eddie Nketiah’s first-half goal against the run of play eased some of the growing pressure on Pierre Sage as Palace booked a third consecutive appearance in the quarter-finals of this competition.

The good news for Sage is that Arsenal – who beat them on both of those occasions – have already been eliminated. However, he knows that Saturday’s game at Tottenham will have much more bearing on whether he is still around by the time Palace’s Carabao Cup campaign resumes against Sunderland in mid-December.

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For Álvaro Arbeloa, this was a disappointing setback after a couple of weeks of progress. Fulham have not beaten Palace at Craven Cottage 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 stoppage time from Gonzalo García proved crucial and there were boos for Fulham at the final whistle. Arbeloa will be relieved that at least he does not have to face Palace again this season.

Sage left the pitch blowing kisses in the direction of his wife in the stands, but praised the travelling supporters for helping his team get over the line. “I like the fans, but I love my wife,” he said. “All the fans are really behind us – they are happy when the team is like this. The connection is better when we fight on the pitch.”

Fortunes have contrasted significantly for these two sides since Palace’s 3-2 win here at the start of September. Successive 1-0 victories against Hull and Coventry in the Premier League took some of the heat off Arbeloa but he was disappointed that a rotated side, which still contained several key players, could not take their chances – an issue becoming a recurring theme under the Spaniard. “It’s the same story – we need to learn to be more clinical,” said Arbeloa. “It’s a really frustrating night for everyone.”

Fleetwood v Everton or Newcastle

Manchester City v Bradford City

Crystal Palace v Sunderland

Liverpool v Bournemouth

Ties will take place during the week commencing 14 December

Sage had no choice but to rotate his side heavily after their exertions last week, which included travelling to Istanbul for a draw with Beskitas in the Europa League before losing to Newcastle at home three days later. No doubt with an eye on Saturday’s trip to north London 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 fans who packed the away section were in full voice throughout, even as their second-string struggled 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 – after 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.

Palace should have been punished when Honest Ahanor gave the ball away on the edge of his 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 and Henderson somehow managed to clear Iwobi’s header off the line as Fulham finally created a chance their pressure merited.

The Palace substitutes Daichi Kamada and Dwight McNeil could have sealed the victory with late chances as Fulham pushed forward in desperation for an equaliser. Their supporters could not hide their frustration at full-time as Palace’s sang about another possible trip to Wembley. What a difference a few days make.