It’s a beautiful thing when goals come with warning signs, and that’s exactly how Crystal Palace won their first game in the top division.
Katie Stengel fired a rockets forcing good saves from the Leicester keeper minutes before Palace scored on both occasions. It was a stunning symmetry that was like the sound of the toaster popping off, signalling it’s time to get a good spread going and score big.
Both goals showed the tenacity of a team bouncing back from a 7-0 flogging and tough opening match to take-out a valuable victory. The first and second alike were a product of recycling the ball after an initial effort from their American catalyst.
I lifted my jaw off the floor from the first goal, winning the ball back in the top third, to then weave it through the centre of defence so smoothly and a striking finish from Annabel Blanchard. Then the penalty was a fruit of the same tenacity, and calmly taken for a Blanchard double.
Palace was easy to write-off after a difficult start to the WSL. Heck, most teams who are promoted struggle. Bristol know that fate well having yo-yoed over the past few seasons. It’s a fate many already bestowed onto the Eagles before any ball was kicked this season.
The one glimmer for Palace in a tough start has been their coach Laura Kaminski. She has been credited for backing her side and being able to speak positively no matter the result.
The gaffer admitted the team’s start to the WSL was a “rude awakening to the intensity”. And they’ve been quick to adapt. Two second half goals after being slightly edged out in the early offings when the Foxes had stunning, gotta-score-that chances early in each half. But luck, and quality goalkeeping, kept them at bay.
Two-nil is a dangerous scoreline, but those lessons of not dropping your intensity harshly served the previous week against Chelsea were well learnt. For the most part, the result looked like it was in the bag against a side Arsenal struggled to break down the previous week.
By no stretch of the imagination will it be all smooth sailing for Palace. Their next game is against a Brighton side riding high on confidence after snatching all three points in dramatic fashion against Aston Villa last weekend.
But, the newly promoted side are showing signs that they’re finding their feet and they won’t be pushovers in this competition. A competitive relegation battle is exactly what makes for a dramatic, delicious, heart-stopping season.
Drawing from Kaminski’s catchphrase: “I’m so proud of the group”.
The Eagles have found their wings.
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