Sea Palace 1 – 0 Stockport

Eberechi Eze’s early goal made the difference as Crystal Palace beat Championship side Stockport 1-0 in their FA Cup third round tie at Selhurst Park.

Oliver Glasner made five changes to the Palace side that drew with Chelsea on January 4, but still fielded a strong starting XI, including Eze.

The England international put Palace ahead in the fourth minute and the hosts dominated possession, although both teams had chances to make a difference in the scoreline.

The Championship visitors stayed put and actually had more shots on target than their Premier League rivals, who held on for a victory perhaps less comfortable than they had imagined.

The opener was facilitated by a pass from Daichi Kamada that was initially blocked by Odin Baillie, but the ball fell for Eze to fire past visiting goalkeeper Corey Addai.

Stockport came close to equalizing when Isaac Olawovi crossed to Kyle Wootton on the edge of the Eagles’ 18-yard penalty area, but it was blocked by Mark Guehi’s late touch.

American goalkeeper Matt Turner – making only his second start for Palace since signing on loan from Nottingham Forest – was called into action for the first time by Callum Camps, whose low effort was comfortably saved.

The visitors had another chance shortly after the half-hour mark, as Wootton nodded to Olaufe, whose effort was headed home by Turner.

Eze tried again, this time sweeping the ball towards the back post, where the England international’s effort was latched onto by Adaye.

Ebou Touray then looked to set up Wootton, who had his head down but nodded.

Palace’s threat continued to be primarily provided by Eze, who fired a powerful shot across the face of goal as Daniel Munoz was also unable to connect.

Palace returned to the lead in the second half when Eddie Nketiah passed an early shot past the right post, then Jefferson passed the ball over to head the ball from a corner kick taken by Kamada after the hour mark.

The Eagles breathed a sigh of relief when Olaofi, alert to a moment of miscommunication between their defenders, stole the ball away but couldn’t find the finishing touch when Turner stooped to save it.

Stockport remained resilient as Palace looked to reduce what remained an uncomfortably narrow lead.

He found Joey Nketiah with a clever pass, but the former Arsenal striker, who surged forward, could only nod.

Lerma wasted a golden opportunity for the second goal when he cleverly dribbled past Addai late on but somehow shot over the bar.

Palace almost scored the second goal with the final time of play six minutes into stoppage time.

Eze slid in to replace Justin Deveney, but Addai was alert with his initial effort and the Northern Ireland international sent his second effort into the side netting.

What’s next?