Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner was furious with his side’s performance in the 4-1 defeat to Leeds United on Saturday, deeming it ‘embarrassing’, SportPremi reports.
The Eagles’ manager had made several changes to the lineup for his side’s 2-2 draw against KuPS in the UEFA Conference League last Thursday, with one eye on this particular encounter.
However, it did not matter as his side were comfortably beaten at Elland Road, while the draw on Thursday also added to their already piled up fixture schedule.
Crystal Palace lose heavily at Elland Road
Crystal Palace had suffered a 3-0 defeat to Manchester in their last league match, while Leeds were unbeaten in three league games and could move clear of the relegation zone with a win.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin continued his impressive form, scoring for the fifth game in a row to give the home the lead in the 38th minute.
The Englishman added a second in first half stoppage time, when he headed in past Dean Henderson after a long throw.
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Ethan Ampadu added a third after the interval after another poor defending from a set-piece by Crystal Palace allowed him to score his first Premier League goal.
Christantus Uche, who scored a superb ‘trivela’ in midweek, came on in the second half as Glasner demanded a response from his side.
The Nigerian forward made a telling contribution, after he was brought down in the box, allowing Justin Devenny to pull one back for the away side.
However, the hosts scored a fourth with the last kick of the game as Anton Stach fired home a superb free-kick to complete a 4-1 win.
The victory moved Leeds United up to 16th on the standings, six points clear of the drop zone, while Crystal Palace drop to eighth.
Glasner slams poor Crystal Palace display
Oliver Glasner was left to rue poor defending as his side were beaten once again in the English Premier League.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt boss was very disappointed with the performance and called for more improvement when defending set-pieces.
“It’s embarrassing and we couldn’t match their physicality. It’s the first game we have fully deserved to lose – the result is okay.
“I don’t know the percentage of duels we won today but especially in the attack, we lost every single ball”, Glasner admitted.
“We won one one-v-one duel and we got the penalty at the end. We didn’t show the basics today and we thought we could play a little bit of football, pass the ball a little bit, but had no chance in the duels. And then you lose every single game.
“To be honest, in the last few weeks this is the fourth game we lose from set plays. We have to change it, I will talk to my staff”, he continued.
“I am responsible, I have to set us up in a better way. We lost at Strasbourg to a set piece, we conceded two to Man Utd from set pieces and Arsenal scored one from the second phase of a free-kick.
“You have to change something. Once it can happen, maybe twice but not four times.”
Crystal Palace will face Arsenal in the EFL Cup quarter final on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the semifinals for a clash against London rivals Chelsea.
