The Chicago Nations Cup trophy went to Millonarios on Wednesday night as they defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois.
A pretty entertaining preseason affair, Palace opened the scoring midway through the second half. The lead didn’t last long, though, with Millonarios equalizing about 10 minutes later. The Colombian champions grabbed a winner at the death, as Leonardo Castro scored a penalty with minutes to go to clinch the win for his side in front of a pretty wild crowd.
What happened
Crystal Palace controlled the early stages, having a ton of the ball. However, they weren’t able to create any real chances with it.
They finally created a chance after 15 minutes. Jean-Philippe Mateta was slipped into space, and his cheeky chip attempt looked promising, but it was blocked by a defender.
Mateta went for an absolutely audacious bit of skill at the half-hour mark, and it almost worked. Posting up his marker in the box, the striker tried a quick spinning turn, and he was a touch away from completing the move, but his efforts were denied at the end.
That was it for the first half, really. It was a friendly after all.
Things kicked off early to start the second half, though. Larry Vásquez picked up the ball on the edge of the area, and he even dribbled past a defender, but his shot was still blocked right away.
The first save of the match came shortly after. A strike from distance from Daniel Cataño had eyes for goal, but his effort was denied via a wonderful save from goalkeeper Remi Matthews.
It didn’t take too much longer for the first goal to arrive. That goal was scored by Palace, as Eberechi Eze whipped in a superb corner, and Jake O’Brien ran onto it before powering home a header from close range.
O’Brien almost scored another moments later, although this was on the other side of the pitch. He tried to clear a cross but accidentally redirected it towards his own goal, but fortunately for him Matthews was able to make the save.
Millonarios responded well to going down, equalizing with 15 minutes to go. The ball bounced kindly to Jader Valencia, and he made the most of the lucky break by smashing a cross into Leonardo Castro for an easy finish.
Just as it seemed like we were destined for a shootout, the referee pointed to the spot. He had no other choice, to be fair, as a cross blatantly hit the arm of Jeffrey Schlupp in the box. Castro stepped up to take the late spot-kick, and he calmly slotted it home.
That proved to be the winner, as Millonarios held on to secure the victory and the Chicago Nations Cup.
What it means
There wasn’t really anything on the line, but both teams were able to get some minutes in their legs, which is always good.
Palace will be a bit disappointed to have lost, especially since they had a few players leave the game early with injuries. For Millonarios, winning this game in front of the crowd that they had will be a memory that most players will cherish for a while.
Notes and takeaways
Fair play to all the Milionarios fans who showed up to the stadium. They packed the supporters section, and a few had traveled quite the distance, coming from places like New York and Orlando according to the banners. They also set off a flare during the United States national anthem, which was really funny.
There was a good chunk of Palace fans in attendance as well, of course.
It was surreal to have Crystal Palace playing at SeatGeek Stadium. Like how has that happened?
I’m not sure how the players were able to keep running around in the hot and humid air, I was struggling and I was sat in the press box.
Chris Richards missing the match through injury was really unfortunate.
Eberechi Eze is quite the player, isn’t he? He was superb to end last season, and it looks like he’ll bring that form into this campaign. Palace will need him to hit those heights, especially after the departure of Wilfried Zaha.
John-Kymani Gordon had a promising showing off the bench, so he could be one to keep an eye on in the future since he’s only 20 years old.
Palace really should’ve won that game, not going to lie. They were the better team for most of the contest, and there were points were they really dominated the pace of play. The English outfit didn’t capitalize on these stretches, though, and it cost them.
Up the Millonarios.
Man of the match – Leonardo Castro
Leonardo Castro rose to the occasion here, scoring the two goals that led his side to victory.
Coming on as a substitute in the second half, he had to help Millonarios dig out of the hole they had put themselves in. The forward put the team on his back. First he made a smart run into the box before redirecting a cross into the back of the net to tie things up. Then, with minutes to go, he calmly converted a penalty to snatch victory at the death.
It was a clinical showing from him, and now he’ll be the hero for all the fans that were in the crowd tonight.
Post-game
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson on managing the minutes of the team for tonight’s game #CPFC @CPFC #CrystalPalace pic.twitter.com/PwN95N88ea
— adnan (@AdnanBasic19) July 27, 2023
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson on the performances of Jefferson Lerma and Cheick Doucouré #CPFC @CPFC #CrystalPalace pic.twitter.com/W1bo3oS7N8
— adnan (@AdnanBasic19) July 27, 2023
Crystal Palace and United States Men’s National Team center back Chris Richards post-game on his health, being in Chicago these past few days, and preparations for the rest of the season #CPFC #USMNT (featuring @JoeChatz) pic.twitter.com/PVh3fFKNZI
— adnan (@AdnanBasic19) July 27, 2023
