MY ACCOUNT
Crystal Palace came out on top in a nine-goal thriller with Millwall, while the Eagles’ fellow Premier League sides Newcastle and Aston Villa enjoyed more comfortable victories.
Leicester, however, slumped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Notts County in one of the upsets of this evening’s friendlies.
Crystal Palace 5-4 Millwall
Palace claimed their first pre-season win in a frantic game with Championship side Millwall that was packed with drama.
The first two goals came in the first five minutes as Eberechi Eze opened the scoring for the Eagles, only for Benik Afobe to respond almost immediately.
The hosts went ahead again through Jordan Ayew, but Afobe once again came up with an equalising goal.
Palace pulled two ahead in the second half as Jake O’Brien and Christian Benteke got themselves on the scoresheet, but they were pegged back yet again.
Charlie Cresswell halved the deficit before Zian Flemming volleyed another equaliser home with nine minutes of normal time remaining, but Patrick Vieira’s men were not to be denied.
Just a minute later, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi found a fifth to hand Palace victory.
Leicester 1-2 Notts County
Premier League Leicester would likely have been confident of victory ahead of their pre-season fixture National League Notts County, but slipped to an unlikely defeat.
Harvey Barnes gave the Foxes the lead on the half-hour mark, capitalising on a one-on-one situation after a loose ball had been pounced on.
The visitors equalised shortly before the break, however, with Kairo Mitchell converting from a corner after Leicester goalkeeper Daniel Iverson was unable to hold the delivery.
It was another set-piece that undid Leicester in the 78th minute, with Aden Baldwin powering home a header following a free-kick swung into the middle.
The Foxes pushed in the time that remained but were unable to salvage a result.
Other games
Newcastle suffered no such slip-ups against their own non-league opponents, claiming a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Gateshead after a late flurry in which the Magpies scored three times in the final 10 minutes.
Aston Villa enjoyed a similarly routine 4-0 win over League Two Walsall in which new signing Diego Carlos made his debut and Douglas Luiz scored directly from a corner.
Brentford, too, were untroubled by fifth-tier Boreham Wood, winning 2-0 courtesy of strikes from Bryan Mbeumo and Josh Dasilva.
Brighton, however, did not fare so well, being held to a 0-0 draw with Belgian outfit Union Saint-Gilloise.
