Crystal Palace secured their place in the FA Cup quarter final after they beat Millwall in what was a tense affair in South London on Saturday lunchtime.
Both sides entered the match in good form with Palace winning six of their last eight in all competitions, while Millwall have lost just one of their last nine in all comps.
The game had that derby day feel to it but inside the first five minutes Jean-Philippe Mateta suffer a horrendous blow to the head when Lions keeper Liam Roberts came rushing out of his box to collide with his studs to the Frenchman's head.
Roberts saw red for the challenge, while Mateta was withdrawn on a stretcher.
When the game resumed after being stopped for around 10 minutes it was one way traffic in favour of Palace. The Eagles were expected to dominate the match when it was 11v11 but with Millwall down a man it was even more dominant.
Just after the half hour mark Palace finally broke through. A short corner was played by Ebere Eze before it fell to Will Hughes had an effort on goal which was turned goal wards by defender Japhet Tanganga.
Seven minutes later the lead was doubled, through Daniel Munoz. Millwall failed to clear a loose ball which ricocheted off Tanganga into the path of the Palace defender who prodded the ball home.
Millwall did pull a goal back on the stroke of half time however through Wes Harding to give the away side some hope. Eddie Nketiah sealed the game for Palace in the last 10 minutes with a superb header which sent his team through to the quarter final.
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Nketiah scores again
Eddie Nketiah scored two goals in 22 games for Palace before this week, following his goal in midweek against Aston Villa he now has two in his last two games.
The former Arsenal man was lively the while afternoon with several good efforts on goal following his introduction from the bench after Mateta was forced off injured.
Nketiah is a very different profile to his French counterpart but that doesn't mean he isn't useful. He offers Palace something different and when given the service he will score goals, it is clear the Palace number nine is a poacher in the box, but you need to give him something to work off.
His header against Millwall was precise and something he had been working on in training. Mateta's injury may see Nketiah given more chance's as the main man up front, he now needs to take his chances when given them.
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Chilwell impressed down the left
Ben Chilwell was offered his first start in red and blue since arriving on loan from Chelsea in January after having to settle with cameos from the bench in South London so far.
Much like in his limited minutes so far Chilwell offered Palace an outlet out wide on the left hand side. It is usually Tyrick Mitchell who starts at left wing-back for Palace and he is naturally a more conservative in his play, going forward doesn't come as natural to him as it does Chilwell.
In a game where Palace expected to have more of the ball it was a sensible decision to start the Chelsea loanee in this match and it benefited Palace in many ways. Chilwell's desire to get forward and influence attacks are what make such a good option on the left hand side.
This was most noticeably seen in the first half when Chilwell found himself in a centre forward position watching the ball come out the air before connecting sweetly to strike it goal wards. His effort struck the bar, which you could say was lucky because he was actually offside before hand, so to rule out a goal of that quality would have been very harsh.
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Franca back in the squad
Matheus França saw the pitch for just the second time in nine months for the Palace first team when he came off the bench with five minutes left of the match.
Although he was only on for a limited amount of time he still managed to show the Selhurst Park faithful what he can do. Playing some nice passes while showcasing neat footwork to get himself out of a tight situation on the touchline.
The Brazilian nearly scored his first goal in the closing moments of the game which would've capped off a fine day for the Eagles, but his effort was sliced wide.
It is still early days for the 20-year-old and he has a long way to go after being out for so long, but week by week he is building himself back to his best and soon will be able to show everyone why Palace spent big on him back in the summer of 2023.
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The importance of Munoz
The £7million Palace spent on Daniel Munoz seems a better piece of business every passing week. The Columbian has now scored five and assisted five in all competitions this season all from right wing-back, but when you watch him play you would think he is a right winger.
Not only does Munoz offer such a threat going forward, it is his energy up and down the right for Palace that is so effective.
The 28-year-old never seems to tire and is often the leading man when Palace press from the front, being the starting trigger for the rest of the team to follow.
Munoz has contributed a goal or assist in six of his last seven games for Palace just proving his importance to this side in more ways than one. It will be massively important for Oliver Glasner to keep his wing-back fit as Palace head into the business end of the season and have a FA Cup quarter final on the horizon.
