United Take Advantage Of Palace Fatigue By Ending Undefeated Home Run

In what seems to be a common theme in a game after European competition, Palace struggled to complete the longer the game went on as the visitors took full advantage.

MATCH INFORMATION

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 17 Nathaniel CLYNE, 21 Romain ESSE, 23 Jaydee CANVOT, 44 Walter BENITEZ

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 1 A BAYINDIR, 12 T MALACIA, 25 M UGARTE, 26 A HEAVEN, 61 S LACEY

POST GAME QUOTES

OLIVER GLASNER

“I don’t want to talk about the missed chances. If we need more than one minute to be organised for a free kick, it is our fault. How we scored is a penalty. It is how it is. We deserved to have the lead and then it is about small margins. I can’t remember if Manchester United had a chance in open play but they were really good from set pieces and that’s why we lost in the end.

We can find many excuses, we can say fatigue, rotation, many excuses but the performances in many parts was good. United have played 50% less games this season. The result hurt, really hurt but we will learn from it. Sometimes learning hurts. We missed a couple of chances in July and August, in the transfer window, to make it easier for us but again we will stick together and make it better.”

MATCH STATISTICS

BOB’S POINT OF VIEW

Bob White was a coach at Palace under the tenure of Steve Coppell and Alan Smith and will be sharing his point of view each week in our review article.

“This was the proverbial game of two halves, and like the midweek game at Strasbourg, we should have been out of sight by the break.

It would not have flattered us with a 3-0 scoreline when the half time whistle sounded. Missed chances, some of which are highly convertible at this level of football, is proving frustrating both to Oliver Glasner and fans alike. Such a profligate conversion rate to chances created has contributed to two losses in four days.

Once United had equalised, there was to be only one winner, with the second being decisive barely ten minutes later after the award of a debatable free kick. At this point we lost complete control of the game especially in midfield and for the remainder of the half hardly managed any threat to the visitor’s defence.

European competition is taking its toll again and many of our players looked leggy with Glasner having very few options on the bench to change the course of the game. You could sense his frustration on the touchline and I was not surprised to hear him allude to the lack of squad resources in his post-match interviews.

There is no doubting the number of games is taking is having an effect. The players are giving their all but when energy levels are low the intensity required to compete at the top level with have a negative impact on performances and ultimately results.

Challenges remain on all fronts until the New Year when hopefully the owners will recognise that we are in urgent need of new recruits in the January transfer window. Time will tell if this is delivered to support the work of our head coach and our playing squad.”

TEB VERDICT

A familiar story once again this season with so many games to compete in and such a small squad, the Eagles failed to take advantage of good early work to take the lead but ended up succumbing to United who took full advantage.

You could argue that their winner could have been ruled out in the same way the Ebere Eze one was at Chelsea this season.

Once again, Palace were guilty of not taking their chances and really should have been more than a goal ahead before the equaliser materialised. However, a disappointing lethargic second half performance, particularly after the equaliser really does point towards tiredness setting in.

Oliver Glasner rightly highlighted this in his post-match comments, and it’s clear that there are not many players outside a core 13/14 players that he trusts which is clearly a problem heading into a busy final month of the year before closing in on the January transfer window.

UPCOMING FIXTURES