Walter Benítez’s shootout saves seal Crystal Palace’s Carabao Cup win over Millwall

Any Crystal Palace supporters looking for good omens will know beating Millwall is a good place to start.

Oliver Glasner’s side saw off their south London rivals on their way to winning the FA Cup last season and it required heroics from the debutant Walter Benítez in a penalty shootout to overcome Alex Neil’s Championship battlers this time around after a late equaliser from Ryan Leonard cancelled out the opener from Chris Richards. But while Palace stretched their unbeaten run to 16 matches in all competitions, this was another night to forget for Romain Esse as he was substituted at half-time following a very public display of dissatisfaction from his manager.

Benítez – a free transfer from PSV Eindhoven who had yet to make a competitive appearance – saved two penalties in the shootout to become an instant hero but it has taken Esse longer to settle since his arrival from Millwall in January for £12m. Glasner has been reluctant to use the forward who made his England Under-21s debut last week but threw him into the fray against his former club, only to hook him at the break after taking off his jacket and hurling it into the dugout in frustration when Esse wasted another attacking opportunity at the end of the first half.

“I don’t want to talk about a single player but of course if you sub somebody at half-time you are not pleased with his performance,” said Glasner. “I will talk to him in person and then it’s up to him to show improvement. That’s it.”

Neil rightly felt that on another night his patched up side could have caused a shock. “I thought we deserved to take it to penalties,” he said. “That was a Millwall performance: it was gritty, it was determined, it was running, it was tackling, it was aggression.”

Jean-Philippe Mateta lasted only eight minutes during Palace’s 3-1 win here in March after being kicked in the head by Millwall’s on loan goalkeeper Liam Roberts – a challenge that chair Steve Parish described as the most reckless he had ever seen. There had been a heavy police presence around the ground before kick‑off and the travelling supporters who packed out the away section wasted no time making their presence felt. “Twenty-five stitches, it should have been more,” they sang.

An injury to the goalkeeper Max Crocombe in the warm-up forced Neil to turn to Steven Benda and the Fulham loanee proved he was up to the task on his debut with a string of saves before half-time. The best denied Yéremy Pino inside the opening 60 seconds, with the Spaniard also spurning two more chances that fell his way. But Millwall should have taken the lead when Palace gave the ball away cheaply in their own half but somehow Camiel Neghli could not hit the target. The lively Mihailo Ivanovic did manage to test Benítez with a header that was clawed away to safety.

After Glasner’s wardrobe malfunction, it was no surprise to see Esse replaced by the new signing Christantus Uche for the second half. Palace immediately looked more of a threat with the Nigeria forward on the pitch, although Millwall’s defence continued to stand firm. Their confidence seemed to grow as Palace found themselves under pressure at the other end, with towering substitute Josh Coburn making a real mess of a volley from close range when it seemed easier to score.

Mateta almost caught out Benda when he rushed out of his goal but saw his shot cleared off the line. From the resulting corner, Richards was on hand to stab home from close range after Millwall failed to clear. That seemed to have won it but Leonard had other ideas when he headed in from a corner, with Mateta then comically missing an open goal with almost the last kick of stoppage time. That left Benítez to take centre stage as he saved from the Millwall captain, Tristan Crama, before denying Aidomo Emakhu to send Palace into the next round.