Eberechi Eze excelled on his return to his former side, firing Crystal Palace to a 2-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers in the third round of the EFL Cup.
Eddie Nketiah opened the scoring for Palace to earn his first goal for the club after joining in the summer for a reported £30 million, after a quick free-kick from Eze found the striker open in the QPR penalty area.
Sam Field equalised for QPR in the 53rd minute, with a fierce left footed strike but it would be Eze who would be the difference maker on his return to Loftus Road, scoring the winner with a deflected shot from outside the box.
Eze made 112 appearances for QPR before joining the Eagles for a reported £19 million, and the England attacker was respectful in celebration after scoring against the side who gave him his professional debut.
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Story of the Match
Marti Cifuentes made seven changes to the QPR side that earned a late 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday over the weekend.
Joe Walsh came into the QPR goal to replace Paul Nardi.
Harrison Ashby came in at right-back to complete a back four alongside captain Steve Cook, Field and Kenneth Paul.
Jonathan Varane and Elijah Dixon-Bonner formed the midfield pivot, with Nicolas Madsen retaining his place just in front of the duo.
Paul Smyth, Zan Celar and Koki Saito formed the QPR front three.
Glasner fielded a strong team, making just three changes from the side that played in the 2-2 draw versus Leicester the past Saturday.
Dean Henderson continued in goal, whilst Chris Richards came into the back three alongside Marc Guehi and summer signing Maxence Lacroix.
Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell reprised their roles as wing-backs.
Munoz's Colombian counterpart Jefferson Lerma and Daichi Kamada were entrusted to play in the double pivot, whilst Eze, Nketiah and Jean-Philippe Mateta lead the Palace attack.
In a tentative start, it was former QPR attacker Eze who looked to force the initiative, driving towards the home sides' goal, but a crucial tackle stopped the England international as he cut inside looking to get a shot away after good work from Kamada.
A cagey spell would continue, and it would once again be Eze who was the bright spark, but the Palace talisman failed to hit the target with the goal glaring, after Nketiah had pulled the ball back to Eze.
Palace defeated another Championship side in Norwich 4-0 to progress to the third round of the EFL Cup, and they would strike first to open the scoring.
A quick free-kick from Eze found Nketiah in space on the right-hand side, and the former Arsenal attacker powered his strike through Walsh from a tight angle to put Palace 1-0 up in the 16th minute.
The goal marked Nketiah's first goal for the Eagles after his summer arrival, and was in fact the first competitive goal in 2024 for the 25-year-old.
Palace looked to add a second immediately, with a deep cross finding the arriving Munoz, but the right-wing back was unable to steer a difficult chance on target.
The Eagles dominated possession but failed to create any clear chances, whilst QPR struggled to string together an attack until the half hour mark when a dangerous delivery from Paul had to be headed behind by Guehi. The resulting corner scrambled within the Palace penalty area before the away side cleared the danger.
Whilst not amounting to any clear opportunities, the move stirred the crowd at Loftus Road, and QPR would threaten again when Saito delivered a teasing pull back into the Eagles penalty area but Lerma was alert to the danger.
Palace responded well and nearly doubled their lead. Nketiah received the ball on the left-hand side of the penalty area, and after jinking onto his left foot, the England striker fired a powerful shot which Walsh got a strong left hand to but the ball dropped to Munoz who was unable to make meaningful contact from merely a yard out.
After one minute of stoppage time, referee Sunny Singh Gill brought a first half lacking intensity to a close, with the Premier League outfit leading 1-0.
Cifuentes looked to turn QPR's fortunes around at the interval, introducing Karamoko Dembele for Dixon-Bonner at half time.
The Championship outfit began with more urgency in the second half, with their press noticeably more energised.
The Championship side were nearly rewarded for their efforts immediately when Henderson pulled off an incredible close range save to deny Smyth from a header at the back post.
From the resulting corner QPR would find the equaliser.
Palace failed to clear their lines with Henderson's punch failing to remove the danger, and the ball bounced to Field in the penalty area, who controlled the ball before swivelling and firing a left footed strike into the top left corner of the Palace goal to make it 1-1 in the 53rd minute.
QPR were now in the ascendancy with momentum behind them, and the Championship side began to harry Palace who struggled to retain possession and dropped deeper.
Eventually Palace would showcase their class and re-assert control after riding increased QPR pressure.
Eze received the ball just inside the QPR half and drove forward with intent. After jinking past a defender onto his right foot just outside the penalty area, Eze let fly and his deflected strike wrongfooted Walsh to restore the Palace advantage, and make it 2-1 in the 64th minute.
Glasner opted to bring Ismaila Sarr on for goal scorer Nketiah, whilst Cifuentes introduced Havertton Santos and Alfie Lloyd, to replace Saito and Ashby respectively, to try and force QPR back into the game once again.
The game started to become very scrappy, with neither side able to retain much control, and Glasner opted to bring on Will Hughes for Mateta to strengthen the Palace midfield unit.
QPR would look to threaten the Palace goal with a couple of dangerous crosses that amounted to nothing, whilst Sarr put too much on the pass when looking to slip Kamada in for the Eagles.
Sarr would go close himself with a curling strike from outside the box, but Walsh was equal to the effort and beat it away.
The Senegalese international was once again at the heart of the Palace attack with a delicate ball through to Munoz, but the Colombian's heavy first touch ruined the opportunity.
The game went through a spell without much action of note, with QPR going more direct and Palace holding resolutely.
Substitute Lloyd nearly equalised for QPR as five minutes of stoppage time began. Walsh lumped the ball clear from a pressing Kamada, and the ball looped over the Palace defence but Lloyd could only fire the wrong side of the post with Henderson beaten.
The chance would prove to be the last real action of the match with Palace running out 2-1 victors, securing their place in the fourth round of the EFL Cup.
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Player of the Match - Eberechi Eze
Tonight was always going to be about Eze, as he returned to the club who gave him the opportunity as a professional footballer.
Eze was positive throughout, and it was his touch of quality that provided the difference on the night with the England international assisting the Eagles first goal before turning goal scorer for the second.
The 26-year-old showcased his immense dribbling throughout, elegantly gliding across the pitch and linking up with his teammates as he demonstrated the quality that has made him Palace's talisman.
