Cheikhou Kouyate may have been forced to take the walk of shame with just 31 minutes on the clock against Reading, but the Royals’ numerical advantage did not pay dividends as 10-man Palace ran out 3-1 winners at the Select Car Leasing Stadium last Saturday.
Mainz 05 loanee Jean-Philippe Mateta opened the scoring from the penalty spot before John Swift restored parity for the hosts, but Jordan Ayew and Scott Banks both found the back of the net in the final 10 minutes to hand Palace their third victory of the summer.
The Eagles have also claimed 1-0 scalps against Walsall and Ipswich Town away from home, but their only pre-season encounter at Selhurst Park so far
ended in a 2-2 stalemate with Charlton Athletic, so there is clearly no better time for Vieira to lay down a marker and secure a first home win before the Premier League resumes.
While Palace’s exploits on the field are cause for optimism, transfer activity off the pitch is where some of the success stories have come for the Eagles, who
are thought to be eyeing a move for Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson having already added Conor Gallagher, Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi and Michael Olise to their ranks.
Meanwhile, Watford’s unrelenting pre-season schedule has seen Xisco Munoz’s side play eight matches in the space of three weeks, and the busy schedule appeared to take its toll on the players following four games without victory before the midweek visit of Doncaster Rovers.
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The Hornets had drawn to West Bromwich Albion and Stevenage either side of defeats to Brentford and Arsenal earlier in the summer but ran out convincing 4-0 winners over Doncaster, with Peter Etebo, Troy Deeney, Dan Gosling and Ashley Fletcher making the net ripple.
Munoz’s side returned to winning ways in emphatic fashion in Burton upon Trent – adding to their three consecutive pre-season wins over Millwall and Colchester United (2) last month – and the clash with Palace represents one final opportunity for tweaks and experiments before their first Premier League game of the season against Aston Villa
