The report

Having already defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 in both the Under-18 Premier League and the FA Youth Cup in 2023/24, it was another tight match when Chelsea Under-18s travelled across London for the return league fixture on Saturday.

We looked dangerous throughout, although the home side carried their own threat, as shown when they rattled Max Merrick’s crossbar with a powerful strike from range early on.

Palace goalkeeper Marcus Hill pulled off a series of impressive saves to deny the Blues, including a double stop to keep out Ryan McAidoo from close range after Harrison Murray-Campbell’s low cross.

We kept at it, though, creating chances and avoiding frustration until Rio Ngumoha’s feet were too quick for Tyler White, being brought down by a rash sliding challenge in the box. Donnell McNeilly made no mistake from the spot, smashing the penalty hard down the middle to give us the lead.

Hill came to Palace’s rescue again to keep our lead at a single goal, clawing McNeilly’s header out of the top corner following a well-worked corner routine, then diverting the same player’s long-range piledriver round the post with his fingertips.

That made for a slightly nervy finish as Ben Casey came close to an equaliser when his attempted cross was deflected onto the crossbar, but Chelsea were good value for the victory. That keeps up the pressure on first-placed West Ham United in the table, as we remain six points behind with four games in hand, the first of which arrives on Wednesday.

The reaction

Given the previous encounters with Crystal Palace this season - both our Under-18s and at Under-17 level with many of the same players involved - head coach Hassan Sulaiman wasn't surprised we were made to work hard for our win.

'It was always going to be a tough game because this was the fourth occasion we’ve played Crystal Palace this season – twice in the league, the FA Youth Cup plus the Under-17 Premier League Cup. Fortunately for us, on all four occasions we’ve come out victorious, but each game has provided a different test,' Sulaiman reflected.

'So going into this one we had to make sure we were physically at it. Winning our one-v-one duels was going to be really important to us, and things like winning the first tackle and celebrating the small wins in the game. We spoke about using that massive psychological edge.

'We played some really good football at times, and then there were also moments when Crystal Palace were aggressive on the press, which forced us to adapt our game plan slightly.

'Because we had so many opportunities and entries into the box and shots on target, we of course were pushing to try and score the goal in open play. Sometimes in games you can have all the possession, all the opportunities, but you win by a set-piece, or in this case a penalty. That’s the nature of football.

'We had 11 shots on target, but their goalkeeper made some really big saves that prevented us from scoring in open play. They did have a couple of opportunities as well, but we could easily have put the game away. It was a game where we didn’t take our chances, but also where their goalkeeper was able to make some big saves to keep them in the game.'

The mature way the Blues went about that task, staying calm and continuing to push despite our efforts to find the first goal being frustrated by the Palace keeper for over an hour, was especially impressive given the relative youth and inexperience in our attack.

McNeilly, in his second season with our Under-18s, took the role of the experienced centre-forward, supported by three players from the younger age groups with just one previous start at this level between them.

'Looking at the age of the players is always one thing to consider, but if you look at our Academy we’re littered with potential and really good players. So putting the three young boys into the line-up didn't hold any fear for us at all. It was more that they are good players, we can trust them to go and perform.

'They did really well, they did themselves proud. Rio drew the penalty which led to Donnell scoring the goal. The young boys persevered, they persisted. Donnell led the front line by example, which I think helped to galvanise those young boys as well.'

The teams

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Max Merrick; Harrison Murray-Campbell, Travis Akomeah (c), Kaiden Wilson, Genesis Antwi; Reiss Denny, Ollie Harrison; Kobe Barbour (Yahya Idrissi 82), Ryan McAidoo, Rio Ngumoha; Donnell McNeilly
Unused subs: Kai Crampton, Landon Emenalo, Saheed Olagunju, Chinonso Chibueze
Scorer: McNeilly pen 65
Booked: Antwi 61, Wilson 66

Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1): Marcus Hill, Finley Marjoram (Freddie Cowin 35), Rio Cardines (Hindolo Mustapha 58), Sebastian Williams, George King, Mofe Jemide (c), Asher Agbinone, Cormac Austin (Tyler Whyte 58), Trialist, Matteo Dashi (Ben Casey 76), Jesse Derry
Unused sub: William Eastwood
Booked: Dashi 44, Trialist 90+4