Plymouth Argyle saw their hopes of causing a Carabao Cup upset dashed by a stunning second half Crystal Palace

comeback which saw the Premier League visitors eventually come out on top 4-2 in a thrilling tie at a packed Home Park.

The Championship hosts seemed to be on their way to the third round of the competition for the first time since 2007

when on-loan Wolves midfielder Luke Cundle scored with a magnificent curling shot in the opening minute of the second period to put them 2-0 up.

New Zealand international striker Ben Waine had given the Pilgrims the lead as early as the sixth minute of the

match and they were very good value for their two-goal lead when Cundle hit the target.

However, a triple substitution by Palace manager Roy Hodgson completely transformed the game, with England

international Eberechi Eze in particular showing his outstanding attacking quality.

Odsonne Edouard scored the first of three goals in a devastating five minute spell, before French striker Jean-

Philippe Mateta netted twice to put the south London side 3-2 ahead by the 62nd minute.

Mateta went on to complete his hat-trick in the 84th minute as Palace progressed to round three but it had been a

thrilling cup tie in front of a crowd of close to 16,000 at a packed Home Park.

The Pilgrims deserve a lot of credit for causing their top flight opponents so many problems until Hodgson’s decisive intervention.

Argyle’s starting line-up showed nine changes from the 2-1 Championship defeat away to Birmingham City, with

defenders Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Dan Scarr the two players who retained their places.

Julio Pleguezuelo captained the Pilgrims, as he had done in the 2-0 home first round victory over Leyton Orient three weeks earlier, with Joe Edwards named among the substitutes.

Callum Burton was Argyle’s goalkeeper as he took over from Conor Hazard, who had been called up by Northern

Ireland earlier in the day for two Euro 2024 qualifiers next month.

Hodgson kept just four players in his team from the 1-1 Premier League draw away to Brentford at the weekend. They

were goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, left-back Tyrick Mitchell, midfielder Jefferson Lerma and striker Odsonne Edouard.

England internationals Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze were on the bench for the Eagles, along with former Argyle

loan ‘keeper Remi Matthews.#

Argyle lined up in a 4-3-3 formation as Callum Wright and Tyreik Wright provided attacking width on the left and

right respectively but they dropped deeper into a 4-5-1 when Palace had the ball, with Waine the out-and-out striker.

Waine had netted both goals in the win against Orient and he was on target again in the sixth minute as Argyle made

a superb start to the second round tie.

The Pilgrims appealed for handball when Callum Wright got in a far post header and it hit a Palace player after a

cross from Tyreik Wright but the ball dropped to Waine and he hooked it high into the net from close range.

A sold-out Home Park exploded into noise as Argyle seized the early initiative.

Palace had the ball in the back of the Pilgrims’ net in the 11th minute with a shot from Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who was in

a central position on the edge of the penalty area, but he was flagged offside.

The Premier League visitors had plenty of possession but Argyle were a threat when they went forward, particularly

through Tyreik Wright on their right.

The flight of one of his crosses caught out Palace keeper Sam Johnstone and Callum Wright almost touched it home

at the far post but it deflected just wide.