Oliver Glasner marked one year in charge of Crystal Palace by guiding them to a fifth straight-away win with a 2-0 victory at an in-form Fulham.
In a performance that summed up Glasner’s reign, Palace counteracted Fulham’s dominance in possession to see an own goal from Joachim Andersen and a sublime effort from Daniel Munoz help them stun Marco Silva’s side and limit them to zero shots on target.
Fulham started the game the more sure of the two teams, dominating possession early on. Their fans were perhaps a touch frustrated when referee Rob Jones looked as though he’d let play run when Chris Richards swiped at Emile Smith Rowe to stop a move. However, those feelings of frustration grew to vocal anger as a Will Hughes challenge on Calvin Bassey went unpunished.
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Palace took the lead from a resulting corner kick as Joachim Anderson glanced the ball into his own net despite Maxence Lacroix claiming the goal during his celebration.
Palace battled their lead until the second half where they first doubled their lead only to be denied by VAR when Eberechi Eze’s clever backheel found Jean-Philippe Mateta inches offside. Though his goal was chalked off, Mateta was at the heart of the goal when Palace eventually did find a second.
Player ratings:
Fulham Leno (5), Castagne (5), Andersen (3), Bassey (4), Robinson (6), Lukić (6), Berge (4), Traoré (4), Smith Rowe (6), Iwobi (6), Jiménez (5)
Subs: Cairney (5), Pereira (5), Diop (5), Muniz (5), Willian (5)
Crystal Palace Henderson (6) Richards (6), Lacroix (7), Guehi (7) Muñoz (8), Mitchell (6) Hughes (7), Lerma (6) Sarr (6), Eze (8) Mateta (7).
Subs: Kamada (5), Wharton (n/a), Chilwell (n/a), Devenny (n/a)
Player of the Match: Eberechi Eze
Fulham were punished for overplaying and a countercharge led by Mateta resulted in Munoz receiving the ball at a tight angle before arrowing his effort into the far corner.
Silva’s side continued to dominate the ball well into the eight minutes of added time but Palace ‘keeper Dean Henderson remained untested.
An underwhelming Fulham display denies them the opportunity to move into the top seven while Palace are up to 13th.
Silva: We were not at the level
Fulham boss Marco Silva:
“We knew before the match it was going to be a tough game, they make it really difficult on the road for any team they play against. We knew it was going to be difficult to break them down.
“We have to be moving the ball quicker – in the first half we moved the ball too slow in our pass build-up. We expected them to be a bit more aggressive in the first pressure, but they changed it, they sat more in the middle block and they showed respect from ourselves.
“In the first minutes, I think we did break well, some moments, some good moves. Our last decision, last cross, last pass was not at the level and because of that we didn’t create many chances in the first half. But these types of games can happen.
“We have to look for ourselves. Even with the bad performance from the referee, in my opinion, we are not at the level that we should [be].”
Glasner: We know we are tough to play against
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner:
“We know that when we are that disciplined like today when everybody is investing so much, it’s tough to play against us.
“We don’t give you a lot of space but we have to be that disciplined because we define areas where we want them to pass or we allow them to pass and then we know what we want to do.
“But everybody has to be focused and it’s easy when we talk about it before and it’s easy talking about it afterwards. Maybe they had a sprint and their heart frequency is 180 and you have to do it again.”
Palace away form reflects their potential
Analysis by Sky Sports’ William Bitibiri:
Crystal Palace have been stellar away from home. They’ve picked up 24 points away from home and are on a run of five straight wins in a run that includes scalps at Manchester United and convincing displays at West Ham and Leicester. But their home form, having only picked up 11 points at Selhurst Park, is what’s holding them back.
Eberechi Eze showed glimpses of what he is all about in Crystal Palace’s 2-0 win at Craven Cottage. It was no surprise that his boss Oliver Glasner explained after the game that this was the first time his talisman was fully fit since the Euros final in June.
There was an air of confidence about him, like in the 25th minute when he stood still on the ball waiting for his former team-mate Joachim Anderson to take the ball off him, an invitation the Fulham centre-back luckily denied.
The 26-year-old completed the most dribbles of anyone in the match with four and finished his outing with an 89 per cent pass accuracy. VAR may have denied him one of the assists of the season, but he was once again that creative maverick in midfield that we’ve grown to enjoy watching over the years, pulling his team-mates into the game and up the pitch during times they were under the cosh against a ball-dominant Fulham side.
Eze wasn’t alone in shining for the Eagles. Munoz was another whose arrow-like effort doubled Palace’s lead but his all-round performance caught the eye once again. After the game, Glasner described him as the Premier League ‘prototype’ because of his industry going back and forth from his wing-back position. Jean Phillipe Mateta has proved he’s a keen goalscorer while Maxence Lacroix at the back alongside Marc Guehi provides the foundation for their forward thinkers.
Their talent on display is not questionable. Glasner was tight-lipped about potentially claiming Palace’s best-ever Premier League finish. They’d have to finish in ninth to do it and are currently seven points behind Aston Villa with a game in hand who occupy that spot. It seems like they just need to fix their home form to be in with a chance of making some history this campaign. Easier said than done though, they play Villa at home next in a real test of their mettle.
