Boro came to Selhurst Park off the back of two strong championship away days, which made this their third away game in six days.
Some changes were made to the squad to keep players rested, meaning new signings Amario Cozier-Duberry and Sam Byram made their debuts for the club and Connor Barron made it into the squad for the first time.
As the first half started, Boro showed dominance and had some early chances to put themselves in front.
Boro continued to be the more dominant side as the first half progressed, with Crystal Palace having very limited chances.
Cozier-Duberry almost gave the Teessiders the lead with a low strike that went just past the post ten minutes before the half-time whistle.
However, in the 37th minute, a header from, Crystal Palace’s, Jørgen Strand Larsen finds the back of net to give them the lead.
Even though Boro had a dominant first half, with 65% possession, they had nothing to show for it as it went into half-time 1-0 to Crystal Palace.
During half-time, Boro made their first substitution of the night, bringing Neto Borges on for Byram.
The second half started, and Boro continued to push and be dominant with possession.
However, this was not enough to stop the Premier League side as Strand Larsen got his second goal of the night in the 53rd minute to give Crystal Palace a 2-0 lead.
The Teessiders continued with their heads high in hopes they could pull something back during the less than 40 minutes that were left of the second half.
Boro’s Aidan Morris had a low strike to try and bring his team back into the game, however it was stopped by Crystal Palace goalkeeper, Walter Benitez, before kicking it away from Boro’s David Strelec who was looking for the rebound.
More substitutions were made for Boro in hopes they could turn the game around, bringing Leo Castledine on for Tommy Conway and Will Lankshear on for Strelec.
However, 18 minutes before the final whistle, Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada gave them their third goal of the night, leaving no hope for the Teessiders, as getting to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup was taken from their reach.
Boro still gave the remaining minutes of the game everything they had, making two final substitutions, bringing Ashley Phillips on for Adilson Malanda and Rokas Pukstas on for Morris.
It was a scrappy end to the game as Boro had some late chances from Myles Peart-Harris and Lankshear to try and take away Crystal Palaces clean sheet.
In the end, Crystal Palace won 3-0, knocking the Teessiders out of the Carabao Cup.
However, Boro can now solely focus on the league and their race for promotion back into the Premier League as they return home to the Riverside stadium for their fixture against Norwich City on Saturday 12th September.
Original Photo Credit - “Crystal Palace fans rush past police to celebrate with players” by Ben Sutherland, CC BY 2.0"
