Crystal Palace signed off the first leg of this summer’s pre-season tour with a 6-3 win over Crawley Town on Saturday afternoon.
On a sunny afternoon in Crawley, it was Crystal Palace who took all three points in a nine-goal thriller to send the Eagles off the America glad all over.
Three goals in the opening 10 minutes from Odsonne Edouard, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Daichi Kamada had it looking like a potential cricket score before Rak-Sakyi scored a brace before half-time.
After the break was a different story, with Crawley pulling it back to 4-2 and then 5-3 after Jordan Ayew’s goal. Ultimately Jeffrey Schlupp put one final nail in the coffin as the scoreline ended 6-3 to Crystal Palace.
Rak-Sakyi was undeniably the best performer in the match, as we awarded him our man of the match. Now, he’s been the subject of much discussion by Eagles’ supporters.
What Crystal Palace fans are saying about Jesurun Rak-Sakyi
After the 6-3 win for the Eagles, fans were on X raving about the display from Rak-Sakyi. His performance made him our man of the match and left fans very impressed.
Firstly a fan commented: “Jesurun Rak-Sakyi showing his quality again for Crystal Palace today”.
“Rak-Sakyi with 2 goals against Crawley. 5 goals in 4 Preseason Games Got a point to prove?”, one fan pondered.
The goal from Rak-Sakyi also below another fan away: “Jes’ ability on his right food is gonna be a huge asset for him and for us. Great finish.”
Another fan made a prediction about the winger’s future: “Whether he gets a move elsewhere or stays at Palace, it feels like 2024/25 could be a big season for Rak-Sakyi.”
“Absolutely nothing can convince me that selling Rak-Sakyi is sensible”, wrote a fan whose convinced the exciting talent must stay at Palace.
Finally, this fan thinks Rak-Sakyi shouldn’t even go on loan after a statement performance: “Rak-Sakyi’s done what he needs, now it’s up to the club to give him the opportunity He’s more than capable of being the backup option to Kamada”.
A statement performance from Rak-Sakyi
For Rak-Sakyi, this was a real statement of intent as he made light work of his defender on multiple occasions.
This was particularly evident in his second goal, with the 21-year-old driving down the right side, pulling out a few step-overs before driving his right foot through it into the far corner from a tight angle.
Despite the fact Rak-Sakyi struggled for game-time last season, and he’d therefore obviously rather go on loan than stagnate his career on the bench or the reserves for another season.
However, if he is performing like this, there is no reason he cannot play a huge role for Palace during 2024/25. Let’s see if he continues to impress during the US leg of the tour.
