Eddie Nketiah hung in the air for a moment then flicked his head towards the ball and powered a perfect header beyond David Raya.
This was only his second goal for Crystal Palace but it was an outstanding one. It served as a reminder that he is capable in front of goal. It ultimately counted for nothing for his team in this 3-2 defeat by Arsenal in a Carabao Cup quarter-final but it is on moments like these that careers can potentially change.
Nketiah’s introduction was always going to be warmly received at the Emirates stadium. “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie,” the Arsenal supporters chanted. He had returned to the club where he established himself and from whom he joined Palace for an initial £25million in the summer. The marquee signing has far more appreciation from fans in north London than south London at this moment in time.
Whenever a player returns to play their former club there will be some fans who believe it is an inevitability that they will either perform out of their skin, claim an assist or score. Nketiah may not have done the first two, and he may not have influenced this game’s result but he did score, and it was a goal he deserved after his performances off the bench.
It was a surprise he did not start on Wednesday night. Glasner had said he would name his fittest side. While Jean-Philippe Mateta was not hampered by a knock sustained in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, it would not have been a shock to see Nketiah start ahead of the Frenchman. It would have been a chance for Nketiah to kickstart his Palace career at a stadium with which he has so much familiarity and so many positive memories.
Nketiah scores against Arsenal on Wednesday (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Instead, the 26-year-old’s moment came from the bench. A 30-minute cameo built on the small steps of progress from the half-hour he enjoyed against Brighton. There was a woeful miss that afternoon which was clearly the product of a forward who has had little meaningful opportunity of late and who had far too much time to think about what to do when one-on-one with Bart Verbruggen. Trying to chip the goalkeeper was a sign of trying too hard.
It is difficult for Nketiah. He is not a direct alternative to Mateta, who has become excellent at holding the ball up and holding off opponents. Palace lost any semblance of physical control with Mateta’s withdrawal against Arsenal. That is not a slight on Nketiah, however, given his other contributions and acknowledging that he is not meant to play that sort of role.
Glasner has often spoken about the importance of confidence for his forward players. He mentioned it when asked about Eberechi Eze struggling for form and again when asked what he had done to help Mateta. The answer was that things change when confidence arrives.
Nketiah now has two goals for Palace, both in the Carabao Cup, which is not a particularly strong return. Yet Ismaila Sarr had struggled until now and looks a player transformed, having scored twice against Brighton and coming into form after consistently starting. In his first eight league appearances Sarr played 218 minutes. In the following eight, there were 698. Perhaps it is no surprise he has enjoyed an upturn in form.
Confidence and frequent minutes are likely to be the solution for Nketiah. His dreadful miss aside, the performance against Brighton from the bench showed promise. The header against Arsenal did the same and he looked relatively bright in his limited opportunity at the Emirates.
Nketiah played well against Brighton from the bench (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
How much Palace can afford to give him time to acclimatise and adapt as they have done with Sarr is uncertain. There might be opportunities as a No 10 but other than in brief moments during the first few games of this season, Nketiah has not thrived there.
The problem for Nketiah is that there is no obvious role for him beyond intermittent appearances from the bench. “It’s about waiting for your chance,” Glasner had said in his pre-match Arsenal press conference. “He had a very positive impact together with Daichi Kamada at Brighton.”
That is a fair assessment but he must produce consistency in those difficult circumstances and hope Mateta’s form dips to be afforded more of an opportunity. Otherwise, the hefty transfer fee risks looking like being a significant overspend by Palace, especially given Glasner has shown no signs of tweaking his system to accommodate more than a single striker.
There are now tentative signs of progress from Nketiah — that at least is reason to be hopeful that he can find his feet at Palace sooner rather than later.
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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