Perfect start for Oliver Glasner as Crystal Palace see off Burnley

Posted Sunday, February 25, 2024 by PA

Oliver Glasner’s first match in charge of Crystal Palace ended in a buoyant 3-0 victory over 10-man Burnley at Selhurst Park.

The relegation-threatened hosts got off to a bright start and were on the front foot for the majority of the first half, but it remained goalless after the break despite Josh Brownhill’s 38th-minute sending–off.

Chris Richards broke the deadlock with his first Premier League goal, a 68th-minute header, before Jordan Ayew doubled the Eagles’ advantage four minutes later and Jean-Philippe Mateta’s spot-kick made the game safe.

Burnley had a late consolation chalked off, another blow on a disappointing end to an afternoon that saw Palace move eight points clear of the relegation zone.

Glasner, treated to a warm ovation when he was introduced to the crowd, had named an unchanged line-up from the Eagles’ 1-1 draw with Everton and employed the same 3-4-2-1 formation.

The Austrian had spoken of his goal-scoring ambitions for an Eagles side who, with 28 from 26 matches, had at kick-off only scored more than bottom side Sheffield United, the 17th-placed Toffees and Saturday’s opponents.

The visitors opened with what could have been a costly error, when Charlie Taylor’s pass back to his goalkeeper completely evaded James Trafford and went out for a Palace corner inside two minutes.

Glasner will have been encouraged by the fighting start from the hosts, who had few clear-cut chances but consistently found themselves on the front foot, the visitors seeing little of the ball until a brief spell around the 20-minute mark.

From then it was all Palace, Odsonne Edouard first seeing a chance deflected off Lorenz Assignon, then Trafford doing well to block Joachim Andersen’s close-range effort through a sea of bodies from the resulting corner and later going to ground to deny Edouard from nodding Adam Wharton’s cross past the post with an outstretched save.

Burnley were down to 10 men when Trafford’s weak pass allowed Jefferson Lerma to pounce and the under-pressure Brownhill responded by dragging the Palace midfielder down by the back of his shirt, earning an instant red from referee Lewis Smith.

Kompany instantly replaced Zeki Amdouni with Josh Cullen before Edouard skimmed the top of the crossbar with a free kick, and though Palace largely remained in control would have been frustrated the contest remained a stalemate at the break.

It was a similar story to start the second half, the hosts looking more likelier to break the deadlock but directing efforts narrowly off-target, while David Datro Fofana nodded a rare chance for Burnley wide.

Glasner made his first changes, swapping Wharton for Naouirou Ahamada and replacing Edouard with Matheus Franca, his side taking a deserved lead two minutes later when Richards nodded Ayew’s cross into the bottom corner.

Franca picked up his first Palace assist after a brief pause, slipping a fine pass for Ayew to turn in at the far post in the 72nd minute, the goal standing following a VAR check.

VAR was consulted a second time after Burnley substitute Vitinho got himself into trouble almost immediately after his 75th-minute introduction, brought down Franca inside the 18-yard box.

The penalty stood after the check and Mateta obligingly converted, sending Trafford the wrong way in the 79th minute.

Palace had conceded more goals in the final 15 minutes than any other side in the division, and nearly looked to have added to the unfortunate statistic when Fofana nodded past Sam Johnstone in the 88th minute.

Smith was called to the monitor and because of offside in the build up the hosts’ clean sheet was restored – which they kept even after playing more than 13 minutes of added time.