Palace secure comfortable victory
Crystal Palace achieved a decisive 5-1 victory over Swindon Town in a recent friendly match. The game, which took place at the Crystal Palace Academy Training Ground in Beckenham, London, saw a strong performance from the home side, particularly in the second half. The training ground, primarily used by Crystal Palace’s youth teams, does not have stands for spectators.
The first half of the match was marked by early pressure from Crystal Palace. Eddie Nketiah opened the scoring for Palace after a corner kick led to a rebound, which he converted powerfully. He then extended Palace’s lead to 2-0, demonstrating the team’s early dominance.
Swindon Town managed to respond in the first half when Fletcher Holman scored, reducing the deficit. Despite Swindon’s efforts, including a penalty taken by Aaron Drinan that was saved by Palace’s Benitez, Crystal Palace maintained their advantage going into the break.
Second half surge from Matheus França
The second half saw significant changes for Crystal Palace, with a new lineup featuring players such as Matthews, Jemide, Canvot, Benamar, Cardines, Devenny, Doucouré, Borna Sosa, Drakes-Thomas, Matheus França, and Brennan Johnson. These changes proved pivotal, as Matheus França emerged as a key player.
Matheus França quickly made an impact, scoring his first goal of the match after being released into the area. He then converted a penalty, awarded after Joel Drakes-Thomas was fouled by Connor Ripley, further extending Palace’s lead. França completed his hat-trick with a shot into the left corner following a counter-attack, solidifying Crystal Palace’s 5-1 win.
Swindon Town also made extensive changes during the second half, with almost the entire team being replaced, though goalkeeper Ripley remained on the field. Players such as Trialist, Debayo, Ball, Millard, Kirkman, Middlemas, Nichols, and Mabete entered the game for Swindon.
Squads and transfer activity
For Crystal Palace, the starting lineup included Benitez, King, Walker-Smith, Adaramola, Mingueza, Hughes, Ozoh, Mitchell, Esse, Rak-Sakyi, and Nketiah. The bench featured players like Joe Whitworth, Remi Matthews, Daniel Imray, Jaydee Canvot, Mofe Jemide, Dean Benamar, Borna Sosa, Joel Drake-Thomas, Justin Devenny, Cheick Doucouré, Brennan Johnson, Rio Cardines, and Matheus França.
Swindon Town’s starting eleven was composed of Ripley, Negru, McGregor, Trialist, Glatzel, Virtue-Thick, Kikeny, Clark, Clarke, Drinan, and Holman. Their bench was notably smaller, with only Lewis Ward and Lucas Griffiths-Brown available.
The transfer window for Crystal Palace has been relatively quiet, with Evann Guessand being the sole departure. Arrivals have included Mingueza from Celta, and returning loan players Romain Esse, Owen Goodman, Matheus França, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi. Swindon Town’s transfer activity has seen Ryan Delaney, Thomas Wilson-Brown, Redman Evans, and Darren Oldaker leave, while James Debayo, Matty Virtue, Stephan Negru, and Mitch Clark have joined the club.
The friendly match was part of the 2026-27 pre-season schedule, following the World Cup.
Other friendly matches played on Saturday 18th July included Eyüpspor 1, Bandırmaspor 1; Kasımpaşa 1, Batman Petrolspor 1; Zalaegerszeg 3, Konyaspor 1; Famalicão 0, Penafiel 0; and Flamengo 4, Olimpia 2. Several matches were cancelled on the same day, such as Hapoel Haifa versus Arkadag, and Sheffield Wednesday versus Preston North End.
Additional results from the day included Lusitânia Lourosa 0, Sporting Braga II 2; Akron 0, Dinamo Moskva 1; Lokomotiv Moskva 1, Rubin Kazan 3; Vasas 2, Soroksár SC 1; and Monaco 5, Saint-Priest 2.
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Source: bbc.co.uk