Eagles inflict defeat on our 10 men
We suffered another home Premier League defeat on Thursday night as Crystal Palace left N17 with maximum points after Micky van de Ven’s first-half red card changed the course of the game.
Dominic Solanke had fired us into a 34th-minute lead to give us a huge lift on what was an important game in our fight to move away from the drop zone, only for our Dutch defender – skipper on the night – to be given a straight red after pulling back Palace’s Ismaila Sarr inside the area when through on goal.
Not only did we lose a man but we lost the lead too, Sarr converting the subsequent penalty and, by the time the interval came, we were 3-1 down. Two goals in first-half stoppage time consigned us to defeat – Jorgen Strand Larsen putting the Eagles in front before Sarr added his second of the game, leaving us a mountain to climb which we were unable to scale.
Igor Tudor made four changes in his third game in charge with Souza coming in for his first start in our colours – he was in the team along with Kevin Danso, Pape Matar Sarr and Mathys Tel, with Conor Gallagher, Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma and Xavi Simons making way. The visitors had our former player Brennan Johnson among their substitutes and he came on in the second half.
There were only 48 seconds on the clock when a ball into our box fell to Adam Wharton and his effort from 12 yards out needed a smart save from Guglielmo Vicario. Our first big chance came on 15 minutes as Tel did well to move infield off the left flank and hit a right-foot shot which Dean Henderson saved, gathering at the second attempt.
While the football wasn’t free-flowing, both sides were having plenty of attacks even if neither goalkeeper was really being worked. Palace did have the ball in the net just on the half-hour mark after Evann Guessand played a square ball across for Ismaila Sarr, whose shot deflected off Pedro Porro and looped over Vicario. Fortunately, Sarr was marginally offside and it was ruled out by VAR. That was the start of a wild spell in the game in the lead up to half-time. First, we opened the scoring in the 34th minute after excellent work from Archie Gray, who beat two players near the goal-line before drilling the ball into the six-yard box for Solanke to guide it home.
Just four minutes later though, the game turned against us. Ismaila Sarr got in behind our defence on the edge of the area and was pulled back by van de Ven as he moved into the box. Referee Andrew Madley not only pointed to the spot but brandished the red card to van de Ven, with Sarr taking the penalty himself and sending Vicario the wrong way. As the half entered eight minutes of stoppage time, Palace took the lead when Wharton slipped in Strand Larsen and his low shot went through the legs of Vicario and into the back of the net. It got even worse with Sarr scoring his second of the game in the seventh added minute, latching onto Wharton’s pass and getting there before Vicario to roll the ball home.
There was an almost an immediate response at the start of the second period, Danso forcing Henderson into a save with his back-post header from a corner inside the first minute before Tel and Gray both saw efforts blocked. Joao Palhinha then curled wide as we continued to press for a way back into the game, with Palace happy to sit back and defend their two-goal advantage.
Henderson was there again to deny us in the 68th minute, keeping out Solanke’s low angled drive with his legs after excellent wing play from Tel, while at the other end, Strand Larsen wasn’t far wide with a left-foot curler. In the final minute, Jaydee Canvot headed just wide from a Daichi Kamada corner, while Tel’s glancing header which drifted just wide from Xavi Simons’ free-kick was the last action of a disappointing night.
