Nathaniel Clyne’s return to Crystal Palace helps them narrowly take three points away against struggling Fulham

Having not featured in the Premier League since May 2019, Nathaniel Clyne played his part in Crystal Palace’s 2-1 win at Craven Cottage.

What looked to be a perfect first game back to both Crystal Palace and the Premier League for the defender, was overshadowed with an injury-time effort to steal the clean sheet.

With Joel Ward dropping out of the squad, Clyne was brought in to offer pace and power going forward. But the 29-year-old spent a lot of his time in the first half dealing with Fulham’s attacking threats.

After Palace’s opener in the eighth minute from Jaïro Riedewald, cleverly assisted by Wilfried Zaha, it was Fulham who looked likely to strike next.

Without the ball, Palace were narrow and compact, which gave Antonee Robinson space to be an option on the left for the home side. Fulham’s best chances of the match came from the left flank, turning into a tough battle for Palace’s returned England international.

Robinson picked out Aleksandar Mitrović in the box who deftly passed first time into Ademola Lookman’s stride, who saw his effort tipped onto the post by goalkeeper, Vicente Guaita.

Shortly after, Fulham struck the post again when Robinson pulled the ball back to Lookman on the edge of the box, only to hit the opposite post with his shot. In the build up to the chance, the Eagles’ midfield failed to screen the pass from Mario Lemina into the American left-back, ultimately leaving Clyne to solely deal with the Cottagers attacking threats.

Palace fans had to wait until the 64^th minute to see their side double the lead. This time coming from the right, as Clyne’s overlapping run opened up the space for Andros Townsend to make a reserve ball into the path of on-loan striker, Michy Bashuayi, who then picked out Zaha at the back post to make it two-nil.

Throwing the former Palace Player of the Season, 2010/11, back into the first team after little match practice was always going to be difficult, but he stuck to his task and helped the side get what was most important; three points.

Naturally, tiredness kicked in for a player who has not featured for such a long time, and he was substituted on the 72^nd minute for Patrick van Aanholt, who had swapped sides with fellow full-back, Tyrick Mitchell.

The match reignited its spark late on, when Aboubakar Kamara, who came on from the bench, was red carded for a high studded tackle on Ebere Eze. Then Fulham captain, Tom Cairney, sublimely hit a long range shot into the top corner, taking away the away side’s second clean sheet since their opening fixture against Southampton.

For Clyne, this was a good first step for him getting back to his previous match fitness and form, but with Wolverhampton Wanderers next, there are going to be many more challenges when have to face their formidable attack.

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