Pardew laments lack of cutting edge

Posted Wednesday, November 25, 2015 by Foxsports.com

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew believes his side were not clinical enough as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland on Monday night.

High-flying Palace would have moved into the Europa League places with a win but were left frustrated by Sunderland, whose defensive solidity belied their position in the Premier League relegation zone.

Jermain Defoe scored the only goal of the game for the Black Cats in the 80th minute to cap an exacerbating night for Pardew and his squad.

"We overdid it a little bit here and there, and in certain areas," he told Sky Sports. "We should have been a bit more clean and clinical in the final third, and we would have created more chances.

"We just could not find a way to unlock what was a deep defence with a deep midfield, which asked us questions. Questions we need to answer, if we are going to go forward and evolve into a different type of team.

"We struggled tonight. We did very well against West Brom, who had a similar set-up, but tonight it didn't happen.

Sunderland set their stall out, there was no mystery to what they did. It was five at the back, three in front, they did not really move much.

"Jermain is always going to be a threat and that threat got them the win when Scotty Dann just miscalculated. Jermain checked his run and that is what a smart, old striker can do.

"Scott Dann's been fantastic for us, he just read that situation wrongly. He tried to ease Jermain away, got the wrong side of him, and then he was in trouble."