Umeh marks his full debut for Crystal Palace U18s with a brace against Arsenal 

Twenty six days after Crystal Palace announced the signing of Franco Umeh from Cork City, the promising winger made his full debut for the Eagles youth teams in an U18 Premier League fixture against Arsenal at Arsenal Training Centre on Tuesday afternoon.

The Irish-Nigerian player, who joined Palace on a two-and-a-half-year contract, made his Crystal Palace U18s debut off the bench against Brighton & Hove on February 18, before he was included in the starting lineup for the trip to Arsenal. 

Six minutes into the contest, Umeh sidefooted the ball home to give Crystal Palace an early lead and he could have doubled the advantage minutes later but missed from close range. 

Jimi Gower equalized for the Gunners when he found the bottom corner in the 20th minute, but Umen restored Palace's one-goal advantage six minutes later, lashing home after Jemide nodded the ball into the penalty area. 

Zach Marsh finished past Noah Cooper to make it 3-1 three minutes into first half stoppage time. 

With a quarter of an hour remaining, Umeh appeared to be suffering from cramp and made way for Basilio Socoliche.

Described as a tall, exciting, attacking player with blistering pace and a strong left-foot, Umeh has represented the Republic of Ireland at U17, U18 and U19 levels. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit : cpfc.co.uk

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