Oliver Glasner could find no way to sugarcoat what he had seen. It was simple: Crystal Palace should have beaten Strasbourg in their Conference League tie.
There was a clear focus to the questions for the Palace manager after the match. How had his team somehow turned a game in which they took the lead and created many excellent opportunities to score into a 2-1 defeat?
It was deja vu, the story of their season so far — perform well, look relatively comfortable but only ever with a slender lead, and then succumb to pressure after missing a handful of chances to extend that advantage.
In France, it was Ismaila Sarr, Adam Wharton and Yeremy Pino who were culpable. In previous matches, it has also been Jean-Philippe Mateta. Here, Mateta was excellent in his hold-up play and assist for Tyrick Mitchell’s goal and was not responsible for the profligacy.
On the other hand, the misses from Wharton, and to a lesser extent, from Sarr, were almost unforgivable. Wharton is still looking for his first Palace goal, but he hit the bar from inside the area with an open goal to shoot at. Sarr, much further out, also missed an open goal, rattling the post.
But in a way, it was Pino’s misses which really stung. He has yet to adapt to life at Palace, scoring twice in all competitions but also failing to convert chances when well placed. Glasner has spoken of more players needing to contribute goals, and he is one of those, having proven capable at Villarreal but struggling in that respect to date at Palace.
Strasbourg scored their winner two minutes after Mike Penders saved Pino’s close-range shot. It came from a rebound after a free kick awarded, dubiously, from a Maxence Lacroix handball, which is why it rankles.
The open goals, though, were two of the misses of the season.
In the first half, Sarr gratefully received a misplaced back pass. Strasbourg goalkeeper Penders was extremely high up the pitch, as he was throughout the half.
Sarr took advantage by nipping in and taking the ball around Penders to find himself with the goal at his mercy.
Yet his shot, from at least 25 yards out, crashed against the inside of the left-hand post, trundled across the goal-line and was eventually cleared.
That high line was something Palace had anticipated, and in different circumstances, Glasner might have praised his players for executing a plan. He has previously spoken of his encouragement at his team creating chances. But not this time.
“The game was exactly how we expected it,” he said after the game. “We knew they take high risks in the build-up. If you have two of these chances, winning the ball, then just have to pass into the empty goal, then you should take it, and if you don’t take it, you don’t deserve to win.”
It was Wharton, otherwise impressive after being introduced as a substitute for Will Hughes, who was forced off after he extended his knee in a challenge, who was more culpable, though.
Penders was outside his area and to the left of his goal when a heavy touch from Ismael Doukoure put the ball far in front of the defender in a central part of the pitch.
Wharton seized the opportunity to steal the ball and took a touch to move the ball away from Doukoure.
With Penders stranded and struggling to recover, the entire goal was available to him. Except his shot smacked against the middle of the crossbar and came back out.
To compound matters, Palace wasted a chance to win the game with 13 minutes remaining through Pino. He was played in by Daniel Munoz and took a touch to set himself.
But then, despite being well placed, he failed to convert, with Penders saving well. It was a golden opportunity, just as so many have come Palace’s way this season across all competitions. But this one was punished the most brutally.
Glasner said that he needs players who are more guaranteed to hit the back of the net when chances crop up: “It has happened too often this season. At the end, we need more consistent scorers. It’s maybe symbolic today that Tyrick Mitchell, the wing-back, scored and all the others missed their chances.
“We talk about fine margins, you have to take your chances. I haven’t played a European game with as many big chances as we had today, and that makes it even worse.”
Palace were punished for a lack of efficiency. Their chance creation is not the issue. It is Palace’s failure to take those opportunities which threatens to change their season’s prospects. Glasner has been taught that a strong defence keeps you in the Premier League, but goals are what ultimately determine your ceiling.
He has so often sought to talk up the positives in his side’s profligacy. This time it was different. There was no hiding. But there is no obvious answer. There is little opportunity for meaningful training due to the schedule. Shooting drills, he noted, would risk injuring fatigued muscles.
Psychologically, a greater focus on the issue risks embedding a negative into the players’ minds and causes potential for overthinking, where instinct can be more advantageous.
Defeat, largely a result of those failings in front of goal, now leaves Palace with a difficult task in the Conference League. They are two points behind eighth, which is required to qualify automatically for the last 16, but 10 teams sit between them.
A play-off, combined with a victory in the Carabao Cup quarter-final over Arsenal, would result in 18 games between December 11 and February 28. That would present an almighty challenge.
Despite all the promise of this season, the lack of ruthlessness, even in games where they appear comfortable, is threatening to unravel some of Palace’s progress.