The Eagles Shall Rise ~ Crystal Palace (FIFA 18 Dynasty)

[Number999]

Belgium are the 2018 FIFA World Cup Champions!

Unbelievable! What a tournament...

Starting off in the Round of 16, you had Belgium facing Colombia and the Belgians were able to fend off James Rodriguez and Rademel Falcao to advance to the Quarter-Finals. Spain tookdown the Netherlands 2-0 in a rematch of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final, and a stunning upset between two African sides with South Africa edging out Egypt. At the bottom left hand corner of the tournament, you had an absolute stunner, with England, the bottlers, stunning France with a 2-1 victory! You know that had to feel sweet for Great Britain, but little did they know their downfall would be right around the corner. On the other side of the bracket we have Germany taking out Turkey, Argentina just managing to beatout Chile in a thriller, Portugal led by Ronaldo surviving against Poland, and finally Brazil led by Neymar doing their best to outlast Cameroon.

In the Quarter-Finals you had just about nothing but giants remaining. In the first matchup, Belgium managed to pull off the upset and defeat Spain 2-1! The loss was devastating for the Spanish side who felt like if they could have gotten past them they would likely have been through to the Final. Instead, they go out. In the other match you had the under-dog and story of the tournament in South Africa! After getting past Egypt 2-1, they face England and STUN them 2-1!!! Trailing 0-1 in the 1st half, they surged back to clinch an African's nation first ever appearance in a Semi-Final! Ridiculous! Germany had a match against Argentina which meant re-creating the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, and it ended with the same result, Lionel Messi being ousted while the Germans would trek onwards attempting to repeat as Champions. Finally, you had Portugal against Brazil otherwise known as Ronaldo vs Neymar, and in an absolute bloodbath, Portugal emerged as the victors, 2-1!

Heading into the Semi-Finals, it was clear there was a variety of great potential matchups. You had numerous fans rooting for South Africa, who were the under-dogs of the entire tournament as well as Ronaldo supporters wanting Portugal, and others appreciating the greatness of Germany and Belgium. But, it would be Belgium who would emerge victorious as they took care of South Africa 3-1 in a match that honestly wasn't that competitive. On the other side, you had Germany shutout Portugal and advance 1-0. In the Third Place match, Portugal would go on to defeat South Africa, 2-1.... so while he may not have been able to make the Final, Cristiano Ronaldo leading a nation as tiny as Portugal to 3rd place amongst all nations honestly isn't too shabby. Yet, in the Final, in a thriller, it would be the Belgians! Yes, the nation with the golden generation who would topple the German empire, 2-1! What a phenomenal tournament, and props to Belgium who will drink this in as this is their first ever World Cup victory! Their previous best finish was 4th place in the 1986 World Cup where they lost to Argentina.

Alright so now that we known the victors, let's look at who did what individually. At the top of it all, you have the Golden Boot winners and that would go to Romelu Lukaku of Belgium who had 7 goals in the tournament, and finishing runner-up to him as his teammate Dries Mertens who himself had 6 goals! In terms of players who made a name for themselves, the obvious clear name has to be Bongani Zungu of South Africa who had 3 goals in a great tournament. Lukaku was though the star, because he also led the tournament in assists with 3, and you know Manchester United must be thrilled to have the face of the footballing world apart of their club as the next football season rolls over. Percy Tau of South Africa was also a featured name, as well as Bruno Fernandes of Portugal who had 5 goals. This was a really great tournament and all of the nations who participated should be proud of their teams effort (minus France, cuz losing to England is pathetic, Samuel Umtiti and Hugo Lloris in particular were just embarrassing. You've gotta feel for Antoine Griezmann and Nabil Fekir in particular who put in a shift yet lost... France's defense failed them at the worst possible time, and they paid the price for it.

So that's the 2018 FIFA World Cup wrapped up, let's get back to Crystal Palace football!

[Number999]

Samuel Grandsir utterly ridiculous, Palace win trophy!

While it may not seem like much, Crystal Palace did not have the luxury of sitting back and just watching the 2018 FIFA World Cup in their homes on their couches like everybody else. They had to get back out there and play pre-season football as a brief rest before the matches started mattering again. Of course, due to the World Cup going on that meant that a number of players wouldn't be available. Some of those names included Wilfried Zaha, Mamadou Sakho, Jaïro Riedewald, and so forth. Thus, Lucien LeClair had to get creative with his lineup and play some new faces in interesting roles. Some of those included Luka Milivojevic started at center back as opposed to midfield, and some names such as Erdal Rakip and Scott Dann were now starting as well. There would also be some signings made at this time, but we'll save that for the next article and instead focus on what happened in the pre-season tournament in Portugal.

(Match #1 of Pre-Season Tournament) @ SC Braga: It did not take very long for Crystal Palace to establish themselves in this tournament. Though they were dis-advantaged having to play Portugese teams in Portugal and thus every match felt like they were playing away, they did not let that break their confidence. In just the 4th minute, Samuel Grandsir scored to put Palace up 1-0! From there, Andros Townsend was banged up in the 13th minute and would have to eventually be subbed off, and as it turns out he would have a serious hamstring injury that would sideline him for 6 weeks, in other words, done for this tournament until matches start mattering again. Still, Palace kept pouring on the goals with a 2nd by Grandsir in the 25th minute on a penalty! Then Yves Bissouma scored in the 67th, and a 4th tacked on by Sada Thioub in the 77th minute. Braga would get a conciliation goal in the final 5 minutes but it didn't matter since Crystal Palace had just smashed them 4-1! Just a thorough smashing, it's kind of stunning considering how well SC Braga did finishing in the Top 3 in the Portuguese league last year, but hey, it's pre-season!

(Match #2 of Pre-Season Tournament) vs RC Deportivo(PLAYED 1 of 2): RC Deportivo had won their first match against Sporting CP, so a win here would mean that Crystal Palace would be assured passage to the knockout stage which they failed to accomplish last year. Ben Brereton got the start ahead of Christian Benteke since LeClair wanted to see what Brereton was made of, and he showed off in the 14th minute with a goal after blitzing past Deportivo's defenders. Samuel Grandsir would knick his 3rd goal of the tournament with one in the 31st minute which was simply massive to ease the minds of Palace's supporters. Deportivo would get a goal back courtesy of Steve Aldo One in the 80th but Palace held on to win 2-1! That meant they had 6 points total and would be through to the knockout stage. We dominated them 10 shots to 3, and it would actually end up being Alexander Sørloth with MOTM honors since he did gather those 2 assists.

(Match #3 of Pre-Season Tournament) @ Sporting CP: Since the match between the two Portugal sides was a draw, the only way Palace could not finish first would be if they got smashed in this game and Deprotivo smashed Braga in their game, highly unlikely. But, in the first 2 minutes Sullay Kaikai got an idiotic red card which meant Palace would have to play with 10-men the rest of the match, huge problem and a guaranteed loss, right? Wrong. Somehow, someway, this actually meant that Palace would go on to smash Sporting! SAMUEL GRANDSIR WITH A GOAL IN THE 26TH MINUTE! How does this man manage to keep doing it!?!? Oooooh Yves Bissouma in the 37th, and FINALLY GRANDSIR AGAIN IN THE 87TH! 3-0 CRYSTAL PALACE! Listen I know its preseason and you never want to jump the gun on anything but I think with Townsend's injury, Grandsir has jumped him in the starting 11 and will likely be the starter opposite of Wilfried Zaha to start the year. You just can't not play him with how phenomenal he's been.

(Semi-Final of Pre-Season Tournament) vs Deportivo Alaves(PLAYED 2 of 2): Playing against another Spanish team in the Semi-Final, LeClair wanted to assure us a spot in the Final against either SD Eibar or SC Braga who beat Deportivo which meant they got through with 4 points total. In this match, a new signing on the wing would make a debut and net a goal, but we'll discuss him in the next article. Instead the other goals would come via a Christian Benteke header in the 26th minute as well as Samuel Grandsir... again. It was the 87th minute and the match was 2-1 with Crystal Palace leading when Grandsir got into the box after a corner, danced around a bit, slipped past and confused Alaves' defenders, and slotted one past their keeper for the clinching 3-1 victory for Palace. What more do you even have to say? He's been unconsciously brilliant as of late, even if it's against weaker sides. This now meant we would move on to the Final and LeClair's first ever shot at winning silverware while at Crystal Palace! It may not be the FA Cup or league worthy, but you have to start somewhere.

(Final of Pre-Season Tournament) @ SC Braga: We started off this tournament by playing them and winning 4-1, and now we would be playing them again in the Final. Big match, let's see what happens. In the 23rd minute, it would be Fabio Martins with a goal for them to put them in front 1-0, that sucks but he's a really good 24-year old. Thankfully, Yves Bissouma ties it up with a goal in the 32nd minute! It would remain 1-1 at halftime, and then in the 2nd half, in the 60th minute, it would be our LEGEND SAMUEL GRANDSIR WITH A FINESSE SHOT TOP OF THE BOX PAST THEIR KEEPER GOALLLASSSOOOO!!!! 2-1! 2-1! CRYSTAL PALACE WOULD HOLD AND WIN 2-1! It may not seem like much compared to clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea, but how about this moment for Lucien LeClair. Taking on proper sides in Europe, in a pre-season tournament, and two of your signings from last year being the two lads who score for you in a tournament final? That's gotta feel amazing.

In total, in 5 matches Samuel Grandsir finished with 7 goals and 1 assist, yet was god for a 8.80 average match rating. That is downright ridiculous, and because of it we have to give the 21-year old Frenchman playing time ahead of Andros Townsend when the season starts. That could change, but he EARNED his right to play with his performances. Hell of a job, but before we move on to matches that matter let's look at some transfer buzz news!

[Number999]

EPL Clubs want Christian Benteke, other transfer news

Coming off of such a spectacular season in the Premier League, it's only expected that many clubs will be sniffing around Crystal Palace to see what they can pluck off and add to their own squad. Lucien LeClair earned the club $134M for finishing in 6th last year, and a 96 overall managerial rating for all of his efforts combined in other aspects. Still, it would take far larger efforts to try and keep this core in-tact. The Crystal Palace board of directors trusts in LeClair and thus will not force him to make any moves even if they seem like they would be obviously beneficiary to the club or a ridiculous sum that would greatly improve profit. One of the ways that Leicester City were hurt after winning their title was the fact that while they managed to hold onto Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, they lost out on N'Golo Kante heading to Chelsea and you saw how much that hurt their midfield. It's one of the most important reasons why LeClair is protecting Yves Bissouma, doing his best to keep him happy and wanting to be apart of something special here.

Still, not every player can be protected. That was seen most plainly by the way other EPL Clubs are circling around none other than Christian Benteke. The 27-year old striker had 11 goals and 9 assists in 46 matches a year ago partnering up-top alongside Alexander Sørloth. Previously, he has been apart of Aston Villa before they went in the sh!tter and Liverpool who were displeased with his efforts and sold him to Crystal Palace. Now different clubs are circling back around to the Belgian. One of those is Spurs, who led by Mauricio Pochettino proposed a $24,800,000 transfer offer for the striker. In response, LeClair countered with $48,000,000 knowing that Benteke is a core part of their club, and while many previous players had been sold, none had been as vital as Benteke and selling him would certainly give the impression of the team looking to take a stepback. Spurs countered at $34M + 5% sell-on clause and Palace responded at $45M. The final offer made was at $37,700,000, but it was not enough and Crystal Palace declined with the bare minimum being $42,000,000 which Spurs did not feel comfortable with. After all, when you have Harry Kane and are looking for a back-up striker, paying that much simply isn't worth it. Afterwards, it was reported that Arsenal was also interested in the striker but with an offer in the 18M-22M range, the sides were so distant that Arsene Wenger didn't pursue talks much longer.

Still, why Crystal Palace have fended off negotiations for right now that doesn't mean they won't arise again in the future, and perhaps with different targets being the focus of their aspirations. With $55,424,132 to spend this transfer window and $125k+ in wages, Palace decided to review what they seriously needed in their team in order to build off all their successes a year ago. Working from the top all the way down, this is what was uncovered. Ben Brereton must be developed thoroughly and quickly, since we don't know when or if Benteke may be given an offer he can't refuse, as well as the fact he's going to need to play like 25+ matches this year potentially if we plan on making some deep runs. Secondedly, we need to sign another winger so we have a strong 4th rotation player to go along with Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend, Samuel Grandsir, and then thus this new signing. Third, we'll briefly scout some center midfielders, but it isn't a super desperate need. There was previously a need for a center-back, but if you remember Diego Reyes has now come over from FC Porto on his pre-contract! He'll be getting some serious match time this year. Finally, we need to make sure our full-backs develop in Ryan Sessegnon and Jeffrey Schlupp since they're an important part of our success as a club and we know how crucial they'll be for our future. Hell, Sessegnon has superstar potential written all over him given how young he is.

The first task that Lucien LeClair went after was fixing his winger situation. With Townsend's injury happening, LeClair decided to hone in on a number of names. There were a multitude of options, from Rafik Zekhnini with Fiorentina who's also Norwegian and has that connection with Sørloth, or Isaac Success of Watford or even Peter Etebo who was on LeClair's radar last year but was out on loan. Ultimately though, LeClair went with none of those guys and instead focused in on Ismaïla Sarr, a 20-year old Senegalese winger from Stade Rennais FC. Sarr is especially unique because while his main feature is his blistering pace, his 6'1" frame as well as the fact he shows unique potential with his dribbling made LeClair zone in on him. Negotiations with Rennais were expected to be difficult, thus Crystal Palace paid the $16,500,000 to negotiate with him directly. From there, contract talks were simple as Sarr expected to be an important player, get paid 35k in wages a week, and get a solid $500k signing bonus. Before you knew it, the talks were done! He had been signed, and actually scored in his debut against Deportivo Alaves as Palace went on to win the Pre-Season Tournament. He will be competing greatly with Grandsir and Townsend for playing time the rest of this season.

We'll have more transfer news involving Crystal Palace before the season starts next!

[Number999]

Palace opt to make many small moves, selling/buying

Coming off of such a spectacular season, it would have been very easy for Crystal Palace supporters to lose sight of reality and suggest that Lucien LeClair should go out and spend boatloads on one or two players to really bolster Palace's core and given Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke, and Mamadou Sakho some really elite starting 11 players to compliment them. In reality though, LeClair understands that Palace are still a few seasons away from being at the point where they could establish themselves as a Spurs caliber organization, or one that can go out and make those signings and be just fine. The club after that preseason victory even after spending money on Ismaïla Sarr has plenty to spend. But LeClair knows that this organization is not just a few pieces away. He knows that they need to gradually improve, reach a certain point, and then he can go out and make the one odd or two splash signings that lift Crystal Palace to that next level. This is the first time they'll be dabbling in serious European competition, and it's expected to be a lot to handle in our first year of contention. Just look at how clubs like West Ham United and Everton have faltered at these points in the past few seasons. So what were all of Crystal Palace's smaller moves? Take a look below.

Crystal Palace 2018 Summer Transfers:
72 OVR CAM Jonathan Williams sold to Leeds United for $4,300,000
72 OVR RB Pedro Pereira bought from Genoa for $4,000,000
75 OVR LB Patrick van Aanholt sold to Swansea City for $11,500,000
76 OVR CB Scott Dann sold to Fenerbahçe for $8,500,000
71 OVR CB Juan Foyth bought from Tottenham for $4,900,000
70 OVR CB Paweł Dawidowicz bought from Palermo for $1,800,000
GK 31 OVR Wayne Hennessey sold to Akhmat Grozny for $3,000,000

Phew... a flurry moves indeed, and quite a fair amount of purging. Let's go through it!

Alright so at the top we have a bit of a surprising move with the removal of Jonathan Williams. He's only 24-years old and had spent a year on loan the year prior, why was he sold now? His role is no longer needed here quite simply. Since Crystal Palace utilize a formation with only two midfielders, his 5'6" attacking frame is essentially futile and he'll never be able to play consistently ahead of the likes of Bissouma, Riedewald, Cabaye, Milivojevic, Rakip, etc... and thus LeClair felt it best to move him in order to give him the opportunity to play elsewhere. At Leeds United he instantly sends a jolt through the roster being one of their more talented players and the Welshman will hopefully find success for them over there. Now one interesting thing to mention is that if at any point in the future, Christian Benteke is sold, and Palace would like to shift to a 1-striker formation and switch to 3-midfielders, that may re-open the door for them to pursue more options and they may very well want to add an attacking midfielder or two to improve their attacking.

Moving on, we have action at the fullback spots. Jeffrey Schlupp and Ryan Sessegnon have essentially been named the full-time starters at fullbacks since LeClair finds Schlupp more favorably than van Aanholt. Because of this, it's understood that the 28-year old van Aanholt wouldn't have been against making a move elsewhere. When Swansea City came knocking on LeClair's door, it opened the perfect opportunity to move. He'd go to another Premier League side, he'd get playing time opposite of Kyle Naughton, and it's not unlike a move he did earlier in his career shifting from Sunderland to Palace. Still, LeClair saw a need to replace him and found it in the form of Pedro Pereira. A 20-year old from Portugal, Pereira has an ideal 6-foot frame and provides a nice raw slate for LeClair to mold. He doesn't expect to get tons of gametime this first year, and thus morale in the clubhouse will be kept higher with this switcheroo. All in all, think of it like Crystal Palace taking 1/3 of the money they got from van Aanholt, re-investing it in a new fullback, and keeping the rest to utilize elsewhere.

Now let's move on to the centerbacks. Moving Scott Dann was something that intrigued LeClair all summer. With the arrival of Diego Reyes, he was now going to be made the consistent starter alongside Sakho in big matches. Dann who has been here since 2014 wasn't comfortable with being relegated to such a role. He wanted playing time. So Crystal Palace shopped him around and had offers from Atalanta but contract negotiations didn't work out there. Eventually they did for Fenerbahce, which was a huge move for Dann considering he's English but the wages were satisfactory enough. Similar to the van Aanholt/Pereira swap, LeClair looked for a replacement 3rd option but simply could not find one. He tried the French league with some young centerbacks by the name of Malang Sarr and Mouctar Diakhaby but they wanted to be fulltime starters. He tried the Premier League with both young and old players from Adrian Mariappa of Watford to Mason Holgate of Everton, and yet no dice because of the wage expectations. He even tried the Serie A, but deals involving Nikola Milenkovic broke down last minute. There was simply no place LeClair could find that 3rd centerback he needed.

Until, he decided to re-visit negotiations from last year. Remember Juan Foyth? Yeah, he was the young 19-year old Argentinian from Spurs who didn't want to come here on loan. Well, he's 20 now and based on the fact Palace were now interested in purchasing him instead of loaning him out where he could get lost, he was intrigued. Spurs who were busy pursuing bigger transfers had mutual interest, and the sides agreed on a $4,900,000 transfer fee which was less than what they paid to get rid of Dann. With Foyth, they hammered out a 5-year/46.5k wage deal as he'd play sporadically in matches against the likes of the Carabao Cup. He understood he wasn't on the level of Sakho or Reyes, but he could climb his way there. The sides agreed, and now he's apart of our club. But LeClair didn't want to stop there... he wanted another insurance policy, and he found it in the form of Paweł Dawidowicz. A Polish centerback from the Serie A who once had a lot of promise but is now 23 and believed to have flopped, LeClair still feels like he can pull something out of the failed big-time prospect. On incredibly cheap wages and an even cheaper transfer fee, the deal made sense, and now he's with our club.

So there you have it! The final deal involving Wayne Hennessey happened on deadline day. Stating his frustration with being sat behind Axel Werner, LeClair did Hennessey a favor and found him a club where he can start all their matches. Unfortunately, LeClair was unable to with a club for a back-up keeper which does put Palace at some risk if Werner were to get hurt... which would be really freaking bad... but let's just hope that doesn't happen. Regardless, one small note I want to end on. We haven't really talked about youth academy products on here much but they have been important to Lucien LeClair. He's signed 5+ in his tenure since starting, but there hasn't been a need to bring them up yet... until now. Crystal Palace signed a 16-year old left back from Portugal in their youth academy called Fernando Braga. Why do I mention him? Because he's an especially unique player. He plays fullback, yet he has a towering 6'6" frame and at that age, it's pretty stunning to consider. Naturally he's very raw, but he's a name you could hear in the future when it comes to who Palace are going to be placing in their defense. Keep an eye on him. But that's all the transfer talk for Palace, let's move on to August matches! In a thrilling clash, Crystal Palace will be opening up the new EPL Season facing Arsenal!

[Number999]

Eagles start new EPL Season with 6 points, scare in Cup

Before we dive into the matches, one thing I forgot to post about was our new starting 11, substitutions, and reserves before this season begins. Always like having these posted at the start of a new season so we can see how much has changed and how much growth we'll have had by the end of it. Here it is below!

Crystal Palace 2018/2019 Lineup:
Formation: 4-4-2 Flat
ST: 79 OVR Alexander Sørloth
ST: 81 OVR Christian Benteke
LM: 77 OVR Samuel Grandsir
RM: 84 OVR Wilfried Zaha
CM: 79 OVR Jaïro Riedewald
CM: 81 OVR Yves Bissouma
LB: 74 OVR Jeffrey Schlupp
CB: 82 OVR Mamadou Sakho
CB: 78 OVR Diego Reyes
RB: 74 OVR Ryan Sessegnon
GK: 77 OVR Axel Werner

Substitutes: 79 OVR RM Andros Townsend, 78 OVR CDM Luka Milivojevic, 77 OVR CM Yohan Cabaye, 77 OVR LM Isamaïla Sarr, 74 OVR ST Ben Brereton, 72 OVR RB Pedro Pereira, 71 OVR CB Juan Foyth

Reserves: 73 OVR CM Erdal Rakip, 70 OVR LM Sullay Kaikai, 70 OVR CB Paweł Dawidowicz, 69 OVR CB Jaroław Jach, 61 OVR LB Fernando Braga, 66 OVR RM Sada Thioub, 63 OVR CB Moses Ojomoh, 59 OVR RM Jason Lokilo, 58 OVR LM Levi Lumeka, 58 OVR CAM Arnaud Cartier, 56 OVR GK Dion-Curtis Henry, 52 OVR CM Godwin Okoye, 51 OVR LW Kingsley Adekunde, 50 OVR GK Kingsley Dosou, 46 OVR CM Simon Ekoku

Now let's get on with match #1 of the new 2018/2019 Premier League Season against Arsenal!

(Match #1 of PL) vs Arsenal(PLAYED 1 of 2): The fresh smell of a new EPL Season is in the air, and Crystal Palace get to kick it off against no other club except Arsenal! The Gunners took all 6 points from us last season, and with our reformed side we're looking to get some revenge on them, let's see how it goes. Early on both sides were generating chances, with Axel Werner needing to make a big save in the 9th minute on a Henrikh Mkhitaryan attempt as well as David Ospina needing to fend off shots by Sørloth and big headers by Benteke off corners. Still, the 1st goal would come via none other than Yves Bissouma who had some open space to operate dashing into Arsenal territory with Mohamed Elneny on him. After a fake shot, he had acres of space to operate and with Calum Chambers failing to step up he fired one RIGHT past Ospina for the 31st minute goal! Just 4 minutes later Palace would have another golden opportunity with Hector Bellerin being caught out of position, and Samuel Grandsir streaking with acres of space. He had a clear shot on goal but hit the post in the 35th, before it being flown out for a corner.... dammit, so close. Still, Palace would get that 2nd goal in the 2nd half via a corner, after setting it off, Benteke passed it back to Riedewald who passed it back to him, from outside the box he wound up, BANGER! TOP RIGHT HAND NET! 2-0 PALACE! Crystal Palace would go on to win 2-0! The remainder of the match saw some more chances by the Eagles and feeble offensive attempts by Arsenal. Werner played well today with 5 saves, and though Sørloth/Benteke were mostly nonexistent it's good to see we can get big results without them needing to be super-heroes. For Arsenal, Kingsley Coman who they purchased for 62M did relatively little by all regards with just a 6.2 match rating. It's a splendid 3 points for Crystal Palace to start the new season, and they'll need every last one of them to re-create the success from a year prior.

(Match #2 of PL) @ Swansea City(PLAYED 2 of 2): Going into this match, Lucien LeClair would be facing Patrick van Aanholt, a player he just sold in favor of more youthful and favorable candidates. Would that decision come back to bite him? In the 24th minute, it certainly appeared not. Jeffrey Schlupp, who would now be the fulltime starter with van Aanholt gone made his way into the box and got a pass into an open Benteke after Federico Fernandez over-commited trying to intercept the ball, as a result, it was 1-0 Palace as Benteke easily slotted it home past Fabianski. But, unlike most clubs, Swansea City would fight back. Particularly a counter attack, Borja was nearly tackled by Diego Reyes but got away, yet he was forced far wide of goal, with Luka Milivojevic bearing down on him he whipped in a hard cross to the far post and Schlupp failed to get back and cover Jordan Ayew who BANGED it into the net to knot things up at 1-1 in the 54th minute! Unbelievable! Swansea City would nearly net a 2nd goal when Borja Baston hit a rebound attempt off the crossbar in the 66th! Yet, the game-changing moment would come via a substitution when LeClair took Wilfried Zaha off in favor of Isamaïla Sarr! In the 76th he got fed a pass by Benteke and was 1 on 1 with Fernandez, he cut inside, tough angle but he fires and IT GETS PAST FABIANSKI! 2-1! 2-1! Swansea supporters were stunned, but they still pressed onwards. After Sørloth blew a chance to end it in the 86th, Swansea City had a big chance with Ayew in the 90th that was SAVED by Werner. After a corner and foul by Riedewald, Swansea would have one last free kick. Ayew... INTO THE WALL! BUT IT'S DEFLECTED! VAN AANHOLT.... WIDE OF THE NET! HE MISSED! FULLTIME! 2-1 CRYSTAL PALACE! It was very from an easy victory but the Eagles held on. LeClair's newest sub had the winning goal and Christian Benteke continues his elite form. It really is a perfect start to the new Premier League season. I just hope we can maintain this form when other competitions start going on.

(Round 2 of Carabao Cup) @ Gillingham: Just for some context, Gillingham are currently in EFL League One, and while it’s ridiculously early they’re in 13th place early on this season with one win and two losses. Basically, a loss here would be catastrophic. Through the 1st half, neither side could get past each other and it took until the 60th minute for the first goal to be struck. Rhys Murphy was brought on just 4 minutes ago, and now he HAD JUST SCORED FOR GILLINGHAM! COULD THEY STUN A TOP 6 EPL SIDE FROM A YEAR AGO!?!? Hold your horses, there’s still plenty of time to play, and thankfully Luka Milivojevic tied the match back up at 1-1 with a goal in the 67th minute. Still as time waned on, neither side could get that extra go-ahead, and the match would head to extra time. That’s when Crystal Palace’s savior of the preseason tournament stepped up. He was on the bench for this match, but was brought on in replacement of Wilfried Zaha on the 65th minute. That’s right, SAMUEL GRANDSIR HAD DONE IT AGAIN, WITH A 103RD MINUTE GOAL TO PUT PALACE IN FRONT! Axel Werner and the rest of the Eagles defense would shut the door as Palace won 2-1 in extra time! It’s not how you want to ideally advance vs a League 1 side but it gets the job done and keeps us alive in this tournament. Well done, and man Grandsir really is unbelievable. At this rate, he'll surpass Wilfried Zaha as our best outside midfielder!

2018 August Summary: It has been a phenomenal start to the new campaign for Lucien LeClair and Crystal Palace. Picking up a monster 3 points early on against Arsenal will go a long way towards helping us in the final table come the end of the season. Still, we made sure not to lose points either against a club like Swansea City who we drew once a year prior. Conceding that goal to Jordan Ayew could have caused us to settle for a draw, but instead we pushed onwards and got that key victory. Finally, we had a scare against Gillingham in the Carabao Cup where we still trotted out a strong lineup yet had same trouble. Still, Samuel Gradnsir, who's been on fire for us since the Preseason Tournament came through in a big way with the winning goal in extra time. Fantastic first month. What's next? September starts where we'll have Round #3 of the Carabao Cup, more EPL matches, and most importantly our first Europa League matchup in the group stage against FC Basel! Exhilarating! But before that, let's view the other major transfers that happened this Summer and review them.

[Number999]

Sergio Aguero headed to Real Madrid for record $110M

In many transfer windows it's difficult to say what the biggest move was, given that so much spending is being transferred from the Premier League to La Liga to Bundesliga to Serie A, to Ligue 1, and so forth. But this year it was a no-brainer. Sergio Aguero who has been with Manchester City since 2011 has now been moved to a former club of his rivals, Real Madrid. The deal came as an absoloute stunner for the 30-year old, considering the fact Madrid were expected to opt for a younger core around the likes of Isco and Marco Asensio, but with faith having completely wavered on Karim Benzema it makes sense why they would make this decision in an effort to go hard for La Liga and the Champions League once again. Still $110,300,000 is a dangerous amount of money to be left in the hands of Man City who can now turn around and use those funds elsewhere. Speaking of which... I believe they've already spent it. Let's take a look at the 20 most expensive transfers that happened this window!

Biggest Summer Transfers of 2018:
89 OVR ST Sergio Aguero | Manchester City --------> Real Madrid for $110,300,000
86 OVR CAM Nabil Fekir | Olympique Lyon ----------> Manchester City for $89,900,000
85 OVR CM Naby Keita | RB Leipzig ------------------> Liverpool for $75,500,000
84 OVR RM Gelson Martins | Sporting CP ------------> Manchester United for $70,600,000
83 OVR CB Andreas Christensen | Chelsea ----------> AC Milan for $64,200,000
85 OVR LM Ivan Perisic | Inter Milan -----------------> Real Madrid for $62,800,000
83 OVR RM Kingsley Coman | Bayern Munich -------> Arsenal for $62,300,000
87 OVR CDM Sergio Busquets | FC Barcelona -------> Manchester United for $58,000,000
84 OVR CM Mario Goetze | Borrusia Dortmund ------> AC Milan for $55,900,000
82 OVR ST Antonio Sanabria | Real Betis ------------> PSG for $53,000,000
83 OVR RM Jesus Corona | FC Porto -----------------> PSG for $52,900,000
86 OVR CM Koke | Atletico Madrid -------------------> Juventus for $52,900,000
83 OVR CAM Emil Forsberg | RB Leipzig -------------> Atletico Madrid for $50,200,000
82 OVR LB Alejandro Grimaldo | SL Benfica ---------> Bayer Leverkusen for $48,700,000
83 OVR CM Rafinha | FC Barcelona ------------------> Borrusia Dortmund for $42,900,000
83 OVR LB Alex Telles | FC Porto --------------------> Chelsea for $42,200,000
82 OVR ST Vincent Aboubakar | FC Porto -----------> Roma for $40,600,000
83 OVR RM Juan Mata | Manchester United ---------> Bayern Munich for $39,800,000
83 OVR CB Eric Dier | Tottenham -------------------> FC Barcelona for $38,300,000
83 OVR CM Jean Michael Seri | OGC Nice -----------> VfL Wolfsburg for $38,300,000

Analysis: Okay so as you can tell, Manchester City didn't seem to wait very long for their funeral after having Sergio Aguero leave them. Hell, they didn't even say "hey let's wait until January to see if we need to make some moves" hell naw, that oil money knows how to spend itself and they believe they got themselves a world class player in Nabil Fekir. Of course, it's only natural for me to wonder whether or not his addition and role as an attacking midfielder will clash with that of Kevin de Bruyne, but considering how great they are I imagine they'll figure it out. Even with Man City having the 2nd biggest transfer of the window, how about Manchester United! They made some monster moves by acquiring Gelson Martins, Sergio Busquets, and selling Juan Mata! It almost appears as though they are re-forming their starting 11 to be far more defensive, and while Busquets is a deeply expensive transfer considering his age, Jose Mourinho believes he'll be worth it coming off victories in the FA Cup and Premier League, as well as finishing as runner-ups in the Champions League!

Two clubs that were hit really damn hard from this window have to be RB Leipzig and FC Porto. Leipzig lost Keita albeit to the 3rd most expensive transfer to Liverpool who NEEDED a jolt based on their pathetic finish a year ago, but they also lout out on Emil Forsberg who will now be playing in La Liga. In terms of additions, they did manage to add Daniel Podence from Sporting CP for a hefty price at 36.2M, so it is possible that they recover quickly, but I suspect they'll finish mid-table in Bundesliga as they recover from these losses. FC Porto also suffered big losses as Jesus Corona will be jumping ship to PSG and they also lost two mammoth players in Telles and Aboubakar. I just don't know how you replace that sheer amount of talent in one transfer window, and the most deadly part being that you must invest it wisely so as to not cripple your club for the future. Hell, Porto did not spend any of that money on a huge signing this window, so you have to imagine the league is for Benfica's taking this season. Hell, if not them then a club like SC Braga or even Rio Ave could make a push for it.

Finally let's wrap up with a few other notes. AC Milan look like they're willing to spend again and are prepared to do whatever possible to make that happen, even if it means paying ridiculous amounts for players such as the prospect CB at Chelsea. Real Madrid bought plenty this Summer and did not feel the need to sell which was fascinating. Kingsley Coman to Arsenal is some of the biggest money they've ever spent, yet many feel like they should have invested it in their defense as opposed to their attack. Real Betis are one of the biggest winners for a smaller club, considering they made bank on their selling of Sanabria. In terms of smaller more obscure signings, that move by Seri is one that Crystal Palace could have gotten in on, but the fact he is 27 years old and it would be so much invested in one player put LeClair off of the decision. Intriguing to say the least. Many youngsters were also moved. Lucas Digne transferred from Barcelona to Man City for 23.4M so we'll see how he does with his new club. AFC Bournemouth made the fascinating move of selling both Joshua King and Callum Wilson, so Palace fans can have their minds at ease knowing Wilson won't score a hat-trick against them this season like he did the year prior since he was sold to Newcastle United, who are now in the Championship after getting relegated! Finally, Nani(31-year old Portuguese LW) made the shocking move to go to Burnley... shocker.

Those are all of the Summer moves I felt like mentioning. Let's get on with it to September 2018 matches!

[Number999]

Benteke, Zaha carry Palace to victories / salvage results

(Match #3 of PL) vs West Ham: An example of a matchup between two clubs that have had the polar opposite start to this new Premier League Season. Palace have soared with 2 victories, while West Ham have faltered with 2 losses. Looking to do their best, Palace had to hold their own. It took until just the 6th minute for West Ham to strike first, with a goal by Adriano their left back! Ball-busting... and even worse, it felt like it would be one of those matches when Andy Carroll got a yellow card in the box and gifted away a penalty! Samuel Grandsir stepped up... he PUSHED IT WIDE! NO GOAL! Unbelievable, he's been in such great form yet he manages that? Thankfully, the Eagles would not let their focus shift as yes, our KING, YVES BISSOUMA SCORED in the 33rd minute to equalize at 1-1! In the 2nd half after a corner, it would be MAMADOU SAKHO with a header in the 54th to make it 2-1 Palace, but that lead would hold for mere minutes as West Ham's Adriano netted himself a 2ND goal in the 57th. The match would peter out from there, with it ending in a 2-2 draw. I'm conflicted on this one personally. On one hand you figured West Ham were gonna come out sparring, but the Grandsir missed penalty and the fact you let Adriano do bits on you... it stings a bit. He's a left back! He's not supposed to do that to you! Ah well, on to the next match.

(Match #4 of PL) @ Aston Villa(PLAYED 1 of 2): After a few seasons away from the Premier League, Aston Villa are back and looking to stay back at the top flight of English football. Let's see how this match goes! Early on, it was all Crystal Palace who just over-whelmed Aston Villa with their ability. Yves Bissouma had a shot bang off the post in the 31st minute, and Zaha who's been struggling to start the season had a shot sail clear of the goal in the 44th. Would this be one of those matches where Palace would dominate but be unable to finish? Hell no! Right before the end of the half, Alexander Sørloth weaved through Tommy Elphick and saw Christian Benteke get past a disoriented John Terry to get through on goal! It wasn't the best shot, but it got past Pierluigi Gollini for a 1-0 lead just before the break! It seems that goal would really devastate Villa as in the 2nd half it was no-contest. Benteke netted a 2nd goal against his former club after Luka Milivojevic delivered a perfect over-the-top through ball to him right before Miles Jedinak could tackle him. Elphick/Terry floundered but Benteke slotted the shot right past their keeper for his 2nd goal against his former club! He would also add an assist to an open Wilfried Zaha after Neil Taylor got caught out of position. 3-0 Palace. It honestly could have been 4-0 since in the 84th Benteke had a shot hit off the post and he missed out on a hat-trick because of it, but the fact he got 2 goals and 1 assist was just spectacular and continues his dominant start to this Premier League season. 14 shots to 3, 60% possession, this was a match where Crystal Palace were superior in both ability and effort, and you saw the domination that ensued. But now it's time to focus on our first ever European affair under LeClair!

(Group Stage of EL, Match #1) vs FC Basel(PLAYED 2 of 2): It's finally here. The day so many Crystal Palace fans have been waiting for... yet... Lucien LeClair decided to play many players who aren't in the starting 11. Townsend, Sarr, Cabaye, Foyth, Pereira, etc... Of course some lads like Benteke and Sakho are still in but it's fascinating how he decided to rest players like Bissouma and Zaha. Why? Anyhow, he'll either be viewed as a genius or an idiot depending on how this opening match goes... let's gooo! Early on, both sides were rather defensive, even though many believed the Swiss Champions had no reason to be cautious. LeClair had trotted out a fairly menial lineup, including a starter in the likes of Fernando Braga, a 16-year old left back who will be making his first ever senior appearance tonight! That decision by LeClair looked like a critical disaster, as in the 22nd minute, Ricky van Wolfswinkel saw Juan Manuel Iturbe matched up with him towards the top of the box. Braga stepped up at a fatally wrong moment, Iturbe simply dribbled around him, and he BURIED one past Werner early on to give Basel a 1-0 lead. Selhurst Park was livid as you could imagine, what the hell ddi LeClair think this starting 11 was going to accomplish?

But LeClair held faith, and was rewarded for it. In the 34th minute, Isamaïla Sarr utilized his blistering pace to dust Blas Riveros, Basel's left back. He tried to send in a cross but it was blocked, instinctively he kicked it on goal and WHADDYA KNOW IT GOES IN! A RIDICULOUS ANGLE GOAL! Sarr just punted it towards Vaclik and the shot was so perfect it had to be done on accident, 1-1 this game is knotted up once again! A huge goal by Sarr was followed with a huge miss by Ricky van Wolfswinkel who had gotten behind Yohan Cabaye and had a clear shot on goal, he fired, and MISSED wide right. Stunner! The momentum swung in Palace's favor, and they capitalized. In the 37th minute, Ben Brereton found a gap in FC Basel's slower defense and broke through, a tough finish was needed to get it past by Vaclik, but he did JUST that! A huge finesse shot, it was 2-1 Palace before the half ended! But the Eagles didn't stop there, on a counter-attack in the 50th minute, Sarr broke free and cut inside, he saw Benteke coming in after waiting, and SLOTTED IT PAST VACLIK FOR A 3RD GOAL! TREMENDOUS! FC Basel would respond with a 2nd goal through, as a beautiful by Kevin Bua was fed into the box and put away by Wolfswinkel who wouldn't miss a 2nd time. The remainder of the match, Crystal Palace would hold as victors, 3-2! It's an exhiliarating victory in unlikely fashion. Pedro Pereira received a red card in the 90th minute because he was time wasting down the wing and slid hard when the ball was stripped, but it was a move necessary to secure victory. Lucien LeClair stated after the match that the best way to calm his players going into such a big match is pretend like it's not as big a deal as it really is. He played many of his reserves with a few stars, and they won because of it. Ismaïla Sarr showed some flashes of brilliance with a MOTM award with a goal and an assist. Braga, albeit with all his struggles, now will be at far more ease in future matches. We just got a clean 3 points to start our Europa League campaign, that's massive in it's own right!

(Match #5 of PL) vs Leicester City: The 3 clubs that have had the best start to the new Premier League Season are Everton, Crystal Palace, and Watford. 12 points, 10 points, and 10 points respectively. Everton in particular have been from another planet with 10 goals scored and only 1 conceded this early on. Leicester City? They have 4 points, but coming off a campaign where they barely survived relegation that isn't too shabby. This match in the beginning was defined by yellows, with two Palace defenders picking them up early in Schlupp and Sakho. Only 2 days after the match vs FC Basel, it's understandable that the club would be tired. Still, they would be the ones with the first goal as Samuel Grandsir did not make the same mistake vs West Ham and scored a penalty in the 28th minute! Huge goal! Sadly, due to the lack of great defensive options, LeClair opted to go more attacking bringing on Brereton, Townsend, and Sarr in the 2nd half. That proved to be a huge mistake as Bartosz Kapustka would score a goal in the final 10 minutes, in the 79th, to equalize at 1-1. Match ended a 1-1 draw. That really sucks considering this match was at home, and it now means 2 draws in our last 3 Premier League matchups. We're gonna have to do better than that, especially against weaker sides. But we're tired, I'll forgive it.

(Round 3 of the Carabao Cup) vs Brentford: It would be extremely easy for Crystal Palace to take this match lightly. After all, playing against Brentford who currently sit in 16th place on the Championship is a far cry from a truly elite opponent. Still, a victory is important considering we want to stay active as long as possible in each tournament we're in. We already saw Gillingham push us to extra time and collect an early lead, let's prevent that from happening again. Crystal Palace would strike first courtesy of a goal via Alexander Sørloth! It's been nice to Benteke get the shine as of late, but to see the Norwegian strike early was vital! Sadly, that lead would be scored in the 23rd and come the start of the 2nd half, Ollie Watkins would net an equalizer in the 47th minute... would this be another extra time affair? HELL NO! Why? Cuz Wilfried Zaha said so. He's had his fair share of struggles to start the year, but our King was the hero in this match with a big goal in the 56th minute followed by the dagger in the 80th. 3-1 Eagles! A 2-goal performance by him to get back in form and send us through to Round #4 of the Cup! Phenomenal and well done by our clubs star.

(Match #6 of PL) @ Cardiff City: Our last match of the month is against another side that was promoted from the Championship in Cardiff City. it may seem easy to dismiss them as a non-factor, but Watford, who are currently leading the Premier League with 13 points in 5 matches have only dropped points against... you guessed it, Cardiff City! This match would be defined though by Wilfried Zaha! Having scored our last 2 goals, there was no other way for him to start than with one early on in the 7th minute as he devastated the Cardiff defense and put us in front, 1-0! But, Cardiff and Canada's Junior Hoilett would respond with a goal of his own slotting oen right past Diego Reyes to make it 1-1. In the 2nd half, Zaha would score AGAIN for his 4th goal in the last 2 matches, but that goal would only last 7 minutes as Icleand's finest Aron Gunnarsson would too score a goal in the 60th. This match would end 2-2. These draws as of late haven't been ideal, and we have Wilfried Zaha to thank for carrying us for these last 1 1/2 matches but we're a bigger club than merely him. He was struggling, and now he's the best player in our side once again. Help him out! Ah but it was on the road and even Watford dropped points to them. Overall, a few draws yet wins in Europa League and Carabao Cup aren't so bad.

[Number999]

Palace attain stunning victory at Old Trafford, 1-0

Just as Crystal Palace were starting to feel good about themselves, they receive a devastating injury from their medical staff. During practice, Mamadou Sakho suffered a broken tailbone. He will be out for 4 months. This is honestly the 2nd worst possible player to get injured for us, second only to Axel Werner to whom we have no back-up keeper. If Benteke or Sørloth had gotten hurt we would have Brereton. If Zaha went down, we would have Sarr or Townsend. If Bissouma got injured, we would have Cabaye and Milivojevic. But for Sakho? We are now forced to turn to players who were not expected to have to play this sheer amount of matches this early in Juan Foyth and Paweł Dawidowicz. An extra reason the injury sucks is because this happened so soon after the Transfer Window closed that Palace will have to play their matches for entirety of October, November, and December without their captain. It's a seriously devastating blow, and it may just be the thing that cripples us in some Cup and League matches. Just get better as soon as you can, Sakho.

(Group Stage of EL, Match #2) @ Aalborg BK: It is just the 2nd match of the Europa League for Crystal Palace, and they will be taking on the Danish side of Aalborg BK. Aalborg BK themselves started their campaign off poorly with a loss to FC Krasnodar, the 3rd team in this group. Starting off our first 2 matches with 6 points would be tremendous, but Aalborg are trotting out their best possible starting 11 for this matchup, it's not going to be easy. For Aalborg BK, it certainly seemed like early on they were more focused on a defensive approach. Thusly seen by next to 0 action in the 1st half. Right out of the break in the 2nd though, Samuel Grandsir was seen wide open by Alexander Sørloth, he fed him, and the Frenchman got through clean and BANGED one in to make it 1-0 Palace in enemy territory! It was a humongous score! But like has been all too common, Aalborg responded fairly quickly with a goal in the 52nd courtesy of the Peruvian Edison Flores. The match eventually ended 1-1. There have been many draws recently for Palace, and some would argue that's their inability to get a dagger but it can also be seen as them avoiding losses. This puts Palace up to 4 points in the group, but since FC Basel defeated FC Krasnodar that means Palace is in the lead by a point! Not bad whatsoever!

(Match #7 of PL) vs Burnley: Crystal Palace are just one of 3 teams remaining yet to suffer a loss this season. The other two being Liverpool and Manchester United. That's not bad company to be in. Comparatively, Burnley through 6 matches have just 1 win and 5 losses, sitting dead last in the entire Premier League. This is a result we've gotta have with how much focus we're gonna have to dedicate to other competitions. Once again just like vs Aalborg BK, it would be an EARLY GOAL FROM GRANDSIR IN THE 3RD MINUTE! I'm telling you, if last season it was Yves Bissouma as our MVP outbreak star, this season it may be Grandsir. But before Palace could get to the break, it would be Steven Defour of Burnley who would net a huge goal in the 37th minute from range to make it 1-1... oh no, this match was at home, would it be another draw for Palace? NOPE! Alexander Sørloth wasn't gonna let it happen. On a corner in the 75th minute, he headed a ball home and gifted Palace the lead. The Eagles would win, 2-1! I know it's very early on in the season so you never want to over-state how big a win is, but given all the draws as of late, and the fact our next match is against Manchester United, this one is honestly huge. Big points at home against a side that has been awful to start the new campaign. Damn well done.

(Match #8 of PL) @ Manchester United(PLAYED 1 of 2): Crystal Palace were unable to take a single point off of Mourinho's United just a season ago. They claimed all 6 points in the league, and bounced us out of the FA Cup in the Quarter-Finals. It makes sense, they won the double... but now we're looking for some revenge. Let's get it. This match would see Manchester United attain the first big attack, with Mario Rui faking out Wilfried Zaha and Diego Reyes in the box after a corner, Rui fed a pass off to Marcus Rashford who fired as hard as he could yet sent the ball sailing wide for a missed opportunity in the 6th minute. That moment would haunt United fans, as just 3 minutes later a deadly offensive attack by Crystal Palace would be created. After a ball was launched by Luka Milivojevic over the top to Sørloth, the ball was settled by Phil Jones, but he lost it on the first touch and it fell to Wilfried Zaha, he got clean through, fed a through ball to Sørloth, and with a TREMENDOUS fashion buried it far post in the back of the net past David de Gea! 1-0! In the 34 minute, Romelu Lukaku would nearly equalize as he had a shot hit off the post, fall to Jesse Lingard, pass back to Lukaku, he fires, BLOCKED, Rashford on the rebound GOA- OH WAIT OFFSIDE! Huge call, and it would define this match. From here on forward, Lucien LeClair switched to a 5-at-the-back and went ultra defensive with Milivojevic and Riedewald in the midfield and refused to attack in general. Palace's defense was doing what Mourinho does against so many clubs. The only other chance Palace had was in the 63rd when Zaha got clean through with some skills but was denied by de Gea. Crystal Palace won the match 1-0, with just 2 shots the entire match whereas United had 5 with not nearly the same amount of possession. Mourinho after the match was livid that his home supporters at Old Trafford had to see such anti-football, but LeClair knew the club needed results over popularity. He was fine with taking the criticism. Interestingly, Jeffrey Schlupp won MOTM with a 8.3 rating after such a strong defensive effort, and it's notable because Ryan Sessegnon got injured in the 57th minute and had to be subbed off. We hope his injury isn't too drastic. But regardless this is a mammoth win for Palace taking points away from United on the road, and handing them their 1st loss of the Premier League season!

(Group Stage of EL, Match #3) vs FC Krasnodar: So a little update before we get into this one, Ryan Sessegnon who got hurt in the match vs United will be out 8 weeks nursing a dislocated shoulder. It's an injury that hurts us, but there's a reason we got Pedro Pereira in the first place. On another note, this is now our 3rd and final opponent in our Group Stage phase that we are yet to face. Krasnodar are a strong Russian side, they have the leading goal scorer of the tournament this far in Ari, and thus we're taking them seriously since we have 4 points while they and Basel each have 3... so let's go! AAAGH... dammit... the man who's been class this into Europa League Stage, Ari, scores a goal in the 4th minute against us. That sucks, but he's been brilliant vs everybody. The remainder of the 1st half we could not get past their defense, and Granqvist in particular for them was stout. In the 61st minute, a sub by the name of Vladimír Darida would net a 2nd for them which likely meant the match was over. Wilfried Zaha didn't go down without a fight, he had a goal in the 68th, but there would be no last second equalizers. We would lose, and FC Krasnodar win 2-1. It especially sucks because FC Basel beat Aalborg BK which means we are now in 3rd place in the group. We must do better our next time out if we don't want to put ourselves in a really bad hole. On a side note, this is our first loss of the entire season in any tournament, so that sucks. But, we sort of knew we weren't going to be Arsenal's Invincibles anyway.

(Match #9 of PL) vs Everton(PLAYED 2 of 2): Crystal Palace are now officially the only league in the Premier League without a loss after Liverpool suffered a defeat at the hands of Arsenal. That should make us feel at least a little bit better after our loss vs FC Krasnodar. Everton are currently 6th in the EPL, but have 5 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses good for 16 points and a +10 goal differential so they have been extremely good to start the new season. Let's hope a weaker squad by us can still do damage. Right out of the gate, it can be said this was one of the best back-and-forth matches of the era with Lucien LeClair at the helm. But it would be Everton who would be the talk of the town early. In the 9th minute, Cenk Tosun was given far too much space by Yohan Cabaye, and from outside the box fired a shot past Werner for the goal. It didn't take too long for Palace to respond thankfully, with a goal by Sørloth coming off a pass by Sullay Kaikai when Everton midfielder Henry Onyekuru couldn't get back in time to block the shot. But this would only motivate Everton further, as they got a 2nd off of a corner in the 28th via a volley by Konstantinos Stafyidis! Wayne Rooney whipped in a ball to him beautifully and with no one marking him, a perfect shot went through to make it 2-1 Everton. Things went from bad to worse for Palace as in the 34th minute, Wayne Rooney would whip in a ball up to the top of the box and after a failed interception by Milivojevic, it found Theo Walcott who blasted it past Werner. 3-1 Everton in the first 35 minutes!

But... Crystal Palace would respond. Just before the half, Yves Bissouma raced down the bottom edge of the entire pitch and out-strengethed Stafyldis to make a run into the box, he would find Sørloth who created separation from Ashley Williams, and with one nifty spin, would collect his 2nd goal of the day to make it merely a 2-3 deficit just before the half. LeClair made it very clear that even with a lower tier side, they could get the equalizer and even potentially win this match against Everton. His pleas did not fall on deaf ears. it took all the way until the 80th minute, but as a sub Sarr was brought on for Sørloth, he had Townsend up-top. With a quick 1-2, Townsend passed it to Sarr, ran past Stafyldis, and Sarr hit him in seconds to find his right foot as he BANGED it past Jordan Pickford! 3-3! 3-3! For Palace, there would be no match winner, but salvaging a 3-3 draw like this with this squad against a club like Everton was huge. Sørloth deservedly earned MOTM honors with a 9.4 rating, and Wayne Rooney with a 8.9 with his 2 goal assists was also just ridiculous. It's a fair result, and now there's just one last match remaining this month.

(Round 16 for Carabao Cup) vs Blackburn Rovers: Allow me to paint you this picture. It is Round 16 of the League Cup, and you have 4th placed Crystal Palace in the Premier League, taking on Blackburn Rovers who are in 17th place in the Championship, yet a mere 3 matches ago were in DEAD LAST with just 4 points in the league and 0 wins. They've turned it around from their dreadful start, but they were in a really bad place. Palace can't come out here and get embarrassed, as Blackburn have already eliminated Swindon Town, Middlesbrough, and Luton Town. This match was a roller-coaster to say the least... in the 15th minute, Bradley Dack scored a goal which put Blackburn in front but no less than a minute later, Sørloth continued his sensational form and netted a goal. Palace refused to make subs knowing that a league match was coming up soon, while Blackburn made some at the half. In the 75th minute, Corry Evans from range buried a longshot past Werner! As of right now, Palace were going to go out! BUT, THE HERO OF LAST SEASON CAME THROUGH! YVES BISSOUMA! He had a response of his own in the 77th minute, and eventually the sides would go to extra time. From there, neither side could do much... until the 117th minute... Wilfried Zaha on the edg eof the box, he gets past Caddis, up against David Raya... HE SCORES! HE SCORES! 11&TH MINUTE WINNER! PALACE WIN 3-2! Yet another extremely difficult match in the Carabao Cup but we survive, we advance, and now we're headed to the Quarter-Finals as November rolls around. Let's go lads! Hell of a way to end the month, now let's keep this momentum going.