Crystal Palace beat Middlesbrough 3-0 in the League Cup Round of 32 at Selhurst Park on 8 September 2026. The hosts were efficient despite having less possession, and the result sends them through to the next stage.
Jörgen Strand Larsen opened the scoring in the 37th minute. Palace had been probing without much luck until that moment, and here's the thing — it was the breakthrough they needed. The striker had been patient, waiting for the right touch.
Middlesbrough made changes before half-time with Sam Byram coming off. But the visitors couldn't respond. Strand Larsen struck again in the 53rd minute, and by then the match was slipping away. The visitors looked shell-shocked, not just from the goals but from how Palace had controlled the tempo.
Daichi Kamada rounded off the scoring in the 72nd minute. Palace then turned to the kids, bringing on Yeremy Pino and Axel Disasi together in the 73rd minute. The manager was rotating, and the third goal had already settled any nerves.
Middlesbrough had 59 per cent possession and made 136 attacks, but Palace took five shots on target to their four and scored three times. The visitors created one big chance while Palace made two. Shots accuracy tells the story: 63 per cent for Palace against 25 per cent for Middlesbrough. They had more passes, but the numbers in the final third were what mattered.
Palace are through to the next round. They beat Fulham 3-2 on 5 September but lost 1-4 to Manchester City the week before. Middlesbrough had won 1-0 against QPR on 5 September and 3-1 against West Brom on 29 August, but this cup run ended at Selhurst Park.
