Crystal Palace fought back twice against London rivals Fulham to seal their first victory of the season.
The Eagles trailed 1-0 and 2-1 but turned the game on its head with Ben Chilwell notching a late winner on his second debut to secure a first win for new manager Pierre Sage.
Josh King fired Fulham in front after 11 minutes when he cut inside and fired a shot that took a deflection on its way past Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
Palace though they had scored a quickfire equaliser just minutes later when a delicious, outside-of-the-foot centre from Yéremy Pino picked out Daichi Kamada who finished inside the box. However, a lengthy VAR intervention resulted in it being chalked off.
Henderson then came to Palace’s rescue with an excellent reaction stop to deny Timothy Castagne and that proved vital as Palace did eventually draw level not long after. Tyrick Mitchell blasted home a fierce shot that was too hot to handle for Fulham’s Bernd Leno.
The pendulum swung back Fulham’s way just before the break as Cesar Palacios made it 2-1 after a scramble in the Palace box saw the ball fall his way invitingly.
But Palace roared back once more and it didn’t take them long after the interval to restore parity again. And it was Mitchell who scored it again.
The full-back rampaged forward and after a wayward shot pinballed around in the box, it fell back into his path although it trickled into the net almost comically from a Fulham perspective with Gonzalo García fluffing his attempted clearance whilst on the floor.
In a topsy-turvy game, the hosts had their chances to go in front a third time most notably when Oscar Bobb weaved his way into the area only to be kept out by a stern Henderson save.
Then came the visitors’ moment to win it, as substitute Chilwell – a deadline day arrival from Strasbourg – volleyed home after Anan Khalaili and then Kamada both fluffed their lines.
Speaking post-match, the victorious Sage said: “We didn’t play as we expected, I’m happy but disappointed for the other team and the coach because they had opportunities [to win] too. I am not happy with the way we defended, we have a lot of things to move. The confidence from this result can help us.”
