Nine Man Palace Disappoint In Loss To Fulham 

A decent crowd in view of the travel disruption were rewarded with two red cards and a heavy defeat to Fulham as the Eagles made their long awaited return from the World Cup break with a rusty looking performance.

TIME/ DATE/ VENUE

• 3pm
• 26^th December 2022
• Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU

RESULT

Crystal Palace 0-3 Fulham

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 1 Jack BUTLAND, 22 Odsonne EDOUARD, 23 Malcolm EBIOWEI, 45 John-Kymani GORDON

OPPOSITION LINE-UP

UNSED SUBSTITUTES – 1 Marek RODAK, 4 Tosin ADARABIOYO, 5 Shane DUFFY, 12 Nathaniel CHALOBAH

TEB VERDICT

Slow starts have been common place during the Patrick Vieira era and this was no different. Palace looked rusty from the off against a well drilled Fulham outfit who took full advantage. There is no doubt that the tactics were questionable, however, you simply cannot legislate for two red cards in a game.

Palace played themselves into trouble by not making their passes, perhaps overdoing it a little, but going down to ten men soon after made things much more difficult. It was a poor first half, one that is perhaps on par with that disaster against Sunderland all those years ago, but a second red card put paid to any hopes of a miraculous fight back. No sooner has the season got back underway after a break for the World Cup, questions already need to be asked.

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.

POST GAME QUOTES

PATRICK VIEIRA

“It was one of the worst days since I’ve been at the club, not just because we lost the game. It was the way we did it, without competing. They prepared their game really well and we weren’t brave enough to play forward. I believe we had the best chance before they scored their goal, but we didn’t do enough to deserve something from the game. We have to give them credit, analyse ourselves and try to bounce back as soon as possible.”

MARCO SILVA

“It was a great team performance. We knew before the match we had to match them and be brave, and we did it. We knew they’ve been strong at home. Until the first goal we were the best team on the pitch. After the second goal we controlled the end of the game, scored two more goals and deserved it. The second goal was important. Even against 10 men, if you don’t score the second goal the game is always open.”

MATCH STATISTICS

POSITION IN THE TABLE (at the final whistle)

UPCOMING FIXTURES

31/12/22 Bournemouth (a) – Premier League (3pm)

04/01/23 Tottenham (h) – Premier League (8pm)

07/01/23 Southampton (h) – FA Cup (12.30pm)