For 40 minutes Crystal Palace’s season was back on track. Less than a week after beating arch-rivals Brighton & Hove Albion they led Burnley 2-0 and looked set to firmly put that winless run of 12 games behind them.
New signing Jorgen Strand Larsen, making his home debut after a £43million move from Wolverhampton Wanderers on transfer deadline day, scored twice. A first-time finish to open the scoring was followed by an intelligent header.
It wasn’t perfect, but the scoreline suggested Palace were comfortable. Selhurst Park felt broadly optimistic and had been entertained. Burnley were open at the back. More goals could follow. Yeremy Pino and Brennan Johnson were available from the bench to potentially make a difference if required to settle the game in the second half.
But then came an absurd seven-minute spell which blew away the relief of victory over Brighton and reopened wounds which had just begun to heal.
The three goals they conceded between the 40th minute and the half-time whistle plunged them back into chaos and despondency.
By full-time, Palace had once again failed to break down a low block in the second half despite accumulating 21 shots across the 90 minutes — 15 of which were in the second half, with only three on target. The mood was bleak. Not as toxic or brutal as it might have been, but relief had given way to resignation and frustration.
Anger bubbled inside but never quite reached the surface apart from a smattering of boos as the players walked off. Palace would have expected to win but manager Oliver Glasner cautioned before the game that Burnley’s performances belied their league position.
If anything, it is Palace whose performances of late do not accurately reflect their 13th place in the table. Brighton should have been a springboard to kick on, and although it was not a perfect opening 40 minutes, their two goals offered plenty of encouragement.
Strand Larsen took the first perfectly with one touch and met Jefferson Lerma’s cross to head beyond Martin Dubravka. It should have been the start of a perfect home debut after a strong showing last week, but in the end it was one of very few positives.
Two goals for Jorgen Strand Larsen on his home debut should have been the story of the night (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Instead of almost assuring Premier League safety by moving onto 35 points and putting 11 between them and the relegation zone, Palace are back to being nervous. They played with what seemed like complacency and Glasner’s substitutions came across as desperate and panicked, offering none of the focus he called for from his players.
Substituting Daniel Munoz, he said in his post-match press conference, was to “get another attacking player on the pitch”. But that made no sense because Munoz had been the most threatening attacking option and created their best chances. He was alarmed, rightly, by appalling defending for Burnley’s goals, and effectively conceded that the team lacked leadership.
There should be a level of concern too at how Johnson has not yet adapted since a £35m move from Tottenham Hotspur. He was anonymous, barely influencing the game when introduced as a 58th minute substitute for Evann Guessand. It might take time, and he has come in from the cold at Tottenham, but Palace need him to make some impression sooner rather than later.
Brennan Johnson’s Palace career is yet to ignite (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Glasner spoke about his team losing focus and how they lacked consistency and intensity. “Before the first goal (there was) a lack of intensity everywhere,” he said. “One of the players (was) laying on the ground, we help him up like it’s a Sunday afternoon.
“We pass and we are walking around. The players have to learn it’s being focused for the whole game. Right now it looks as soon as something happens in the game we’re getting nervous.
“It’s happened a few times that were get nervous and lose the structure. The second half at Nottingham (Forest) one player up. ‘We have to win, we have to win’. We make mistakes and wrong decisions. When you’re not calm or balanced you don’t make good decisions.
“The players are looking at the table (thinking) it’s very tight, if you win here and against Wolves you’re playing the (bottom) two at home, it’s six points… but focus on what you have to do on the pitch.”
But those nerves surely stem in part from the manager and the distraction that he brought about with his outbursts. It is his job to help relax his players and to coach them to be settled, but every time opposition players run at them or try to hit them in transition, they could not look more vulnerable.
Opta give Palace a 1.27 per cent chance of relegation, slightly up from before the game. Logically, it follows that the chances are minimal, and they are closer to seventh-placed Brentford’s 39 points than 18th-placed West Ham United’s 24, and that two wins from the final 12 matches should see them safe. Yet their confidence remains brittle.
Just as it looked like they had turned a corner, Palace have stepped into a hall of mirrors reflecting everything at them that has gone wrong in the turbulent past few months.