Three games into the new season and Patrick Vieira is still looking for his first win as Palace boss as the Eagles were dumped out of the Carabao Cup at the first attempt at the hands of newly promoted Watford.
DATE
24th August 2021
RESULT
Watford 1-0 Crystal Palace
VENUE
Vicarage Road, Watford WD18 0ER
CROWD
9,011
OFFICIALS
Referee – Tim Robinson. Assistants – Richard Wild, Nigel Lugg. Fourth official – John Busby.
DISCIPLINE
BOOKINGS – Cucho Hernandez (44), Conor Gallagher (54), Francisco Sierralta (61), Rose (90)
RED CARD – none
GOALS
Ashley Fletcher (86)
TEB VERDICT
There are plenty of signs of what Vieira is trying to create at Palace and time will be needed but this performance was almost a reverse of what we have seen from seasons gone by. Many of the statistics including possession were in favour of the Eagles but the familiar story of a toothless front line not converting chances proved to be the Achilles heel in this cup defeat. With less than a week of the transfer window remaining, many are calling for new additions, and there is no doubt that the club will be actively trying to recruit but there are three or four positions that need attention before that door is slammed shut at 11pm on 31st August. It is time for us to be patient and hold our nerve.
PLAYER RATINGS
1 Jack Butland (6), 5 James Tomkins (7), 16 Joachim Andersen (6), Marc Guehi (6), 2 Joel Ward (C – 6), 23 Conor Gallagher (6), 8 Cheikhou Kouyate (6), 15 Jeffrey Schlupp (6), 9 Jordan Ayew (6), 14 Jean Philippe Mateta (6), 11 Wilfried Zaha (7)
SUBSTITUTES – 3 Tyrick Mitchell (6 – replaced Tomkins on 81 mins), 13 Vicente Guaita, 18 James McArthur (6 – replaced Gallagher on 63 mins), 20 Christian Benteke (6 – replaced Mateta on 63 mins), 34 Martin Kelly, 44 Jairo Riedewald, 49 Jesrun Rak-Sakyi
OPPOSITION LINE-UP
1 Foster, 2 Ngakia, 5 Troost-Ekong, 31 Sierralta, 3 Rose, 6 Louza, 4 Etebo, 12 Sema, 17 Fletcher, 7 King, 29 Hernandez Suarez
SUBSTITUTES – 8 Cleverley (replaced Sema on 76 mins), 15 Cathcart, 21 Femenia (replaced Ngakia on 62 mins), 25 Dennis (replaced King on 45 mins), 34 Baah, 35 Elliott, 37 Alvarado
POST GAME QUOTES
PATRICK VIEIRA – “We have to change our mentality when we are in the opposition half. We have to be more aggressive and determined to take those chances because today we didn’t. There is a lot of frustration on our side because I think we created enough to win. I am disappointed because up front we have to improve. If we want to win football matches, we have to score goals and this is not the case.”
XISCO MUNOZ – “It was a very good performance and I’m very happy with the players. We gave chances to a lot of players tonight and they showed they can cope with the situation. I am happy with the squad, and we can say ‘congrats tonight, you gave a good performance. It is important for the team and squad, and it is good for improving our mentality.”
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Ben Foster (7.6) while the most shots were from Ashley Fletcher (4). The most tackles were by Jeremy Ngakia and Jordan Ayew (4) while Wilfried Zaha (5) had the most dribbles.
- Team rating: 6.82 – 6.54
- Total shots: 9 – 11
- Shots on target: 2 – 4
- Possession: 33.9% – 66.1%
- Pass success: 75 – 86
- Passes: 299 – 585
- Dribbles: 5 – 12
- Aerials won: 14 – 15
- Tackles: 14 – 16
- Fouls: 16 – 13
- Corners: 2 – 9
- Saves: 4 – 1
- Dispossessed: 9 – 7
UPCOMING FIXTURES
28/08/2021 West Ham United (a) – Premier League (3pm)
11/09/2021 Tottenham Hotspur (h) – Premier League (12.30pm)
18/09/2021 Liverpool (a) – Premier League (3pm)
