Ben Chilwell made an instant impact on his return to Crystal Palace, netting the decisive goal as the Eagles fought back from behind on two occasions to claim a 3-2 triumph away at Fulham.
The 29 year old put pen to paper with Palace on Tuesday, arriving on a free transfer from Strasbourg. He had already spent time with the French club during the back end of last season while out on loan from Chelsea.
Just three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Tyrick Mitchell, the man who had already found the net twice for Palace, Chilwell pounced on a loose ball following a failed clearance by the home defence and drilled it into the goal under Pierre Sage’s guidance.
Fulham had taken an early lead through a deflected strike from young forward Josh King, before Mitchell restored parity with a tidy finish squeezed in from an awkward angle. Cesar Palacios, the Spanish attacker who joined from Real Madrid over the summer, then registered his first goal for the club to put Alvaro Arbeloa’s men back in front heading into the interval.
Mitchell struck again shortly after the restart, capitalising on more defensive confusion from the hosts as his shot rolled over the line to level things once more.
The result handed Sage his opening win in charge of Palace, following his appointment as successor to Oliver Glasner in the off season.
For Fulham, it marked a third consecutive league loss since Arbeloa took over. Alongside Coventry City, they now sit as one of two clubs yet to pick up a single point from their opening three top flight fixtures this term.
