Premier League Next Generation Cup: Crystal Palace, Everton start on winning note

The 2024 Next Generation Cup campaign for Indian teams kicked off with some incredible matches that kept fans on the edge of their seats. Despite the difference in football culture between Indian and English sides, Punjab FC, Muthoot FA and East Bengal FC players showcased their footballing prowess and made it tough for their Premier League counterparts.

East Bengal FC faced Crystal Palace today and suffered a close 1-0 loss in regulation time and then again in the penalty shootout (2-4). The teams in the Next Generation Cup will face off in a penalty shootout at the end of the match regardless of the full-time score. The team that wins the game in regulation will receive 3 points for their victory and the winner of the penalty shootout earns a bonus point.

Crystal Palace FC won both aspects of the match and earned four points.

Finley Marjoram of Crystal Palace FC scored in the 24th minute and gave his team the lead entering into half-time. However, the East Bengal FC players held their nerves and refused to concede another goal.

Despite the loss, the East Bengal FC coach was quite ecstatic with their performance. East Bengal FC coach Bino George praised his players for their immaculate defence.

Crystal Palace coach Rob Quinn spoke about the East Bengal FC players after the game, saying “I can tell they're well coached, they're well disciplined in their roles, which is credit obviously to the staff and the work of the teams, they made it tough for us. There wasn't a lot of space for us to play, trying to play between the lines and we had to be patient and yeah, it was a hard game.”

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Earlier, Muthoot FA produced a fitting contest against Everton with the Toffees scoring the only goal of the match in the 34th minute.

The third-place winners of the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) 2023-24 were neatly organised at the back and didn’t offer their Premier League opponents many clear cut goal-scoring opportunities in the opening half of the contest.

Eventually, it took a concerted team effort on their behalf to break through the Muthoot FA backline.

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