After a miserable January for Crystal Palace where the club threatened to fall apart, it appeared the clouds were beginning to lift in February when new record signing Jorgen Strand Larsen helped them race into a 2-0 lead against Burnley.
But seven minutes of madness later, and Eagles chairman Steve Parish was perhaps ruing the club’s failure to replace Marc Guehi, as an incredible comeback from the Clarets saw Scott Parker ease the pressure on his job, and keep his side’s survival hopes alive.
Palace huffed and puffed late on, but Burnley held firm to win their first league match since October.
Daily Mail Sport’s WILL PICKWORTH was at Selhurst Park and he has picked out some key talking points from the match.
Burnley show life in relegation battle
At 2-0 down and heading for their 17th Premier League game in a row without a win, things were bleak for Burnley.
But an incredible three-goal salvo in seven minutes reminded everyone that their relegation isn’t quite a done deal just yet.
The players showed a fight that may also send a message to the club’s hierarchy that they are behind Parker after a portion of fans turned on him during the weekend’s defeat by West Ham.
Scott Parker led Burnley to their first league win since October as they beat Crystal Palace 3-2
Driven on by Jaidon Anthony and Marcus Edwards, this is only a start, and Parker will need many more results like this given his side are still nine points adrift of safety.
Yet after so many setbacks, coupled with the mentality they showed, the victory provides a much-needed lift to the club after a dismal period as they look to avoid their third successive Premier League relegation.
‘Given what this group have gone through, to be 2-0 down here and do what they did is absolutely incredible,’ an emotional Parker said. ‘That game will live with me for a long time.
‘When the doubters were there, the adversity was on us, and in moments where people could fold, we pulled out a result. I’m sorry, but there’s not many teams in our position that could do that.’
Palace’s defensive woes
When Palace failed to replace Guehi, questions were always going to be raised about the impact on their defence.
Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix and Jefferson Lerma played well at Brighton, albeit their rivals barely offered anything going forward, yet the way Burnley exposed the hosts’ deficiencies will raise alarm bells for Oliver Glasner.
Palace froze for seven minutes as they contrived to throw away a comfortable lead and Glasner’s men have conceded nine goals in five games without their former captain.
‘When you defend so sloppy like we did we in the seven minutes we deserved to lose,’ added a furious Glasner, who criticised his side’s mentality and lack of leadership.
‘We lost the focus to defend, we wanted to pass a little bit, and it felt like we were playing on a Sunday afternoon with my kids. I watched the goals back and it’s just terrible.
‘It looks like (the players thought the game was won). We threw the game away.’
Oliver Glasner’s side are struggling defensively and they will be ruing not replacing Marc Guehi in the January transfer window
It was a positive night for Jorgen Strand Larsen, though, who scored twice on his home debut
Strand Larsen has lift off
Eyebrows were raised when Palace spent £48million on Jorgen Strand Larsen after one Premier League goal in the first half of the season.
The Norwegian’s quality is evident given he netted 14 Premier League goals last season and Newcastle’s were interested in the summer, but a combination of confidence, a niggling Achilles injury, and the psychological impact of a failed move badly impacted his form.
A transfer is a fresh start though, and following a tireless performance at Brighton, his work rate was rewarded with two fine goals here.
In the process, Strand Larsen trebled his Premier League goal tally for the season – and he should be filled with confidence despite the result.
Palace had to gamble in January given their predicament, so if Strand Larsen can build on this start, he will have been worth the risk.
‘It was a great first goal,’ Glasner said. ‘A good run in behind and a fantastic finish. We saw his effort three days ago at Brighton and he didn’t get the reward.
‘But with this attitude, mentality and quality he will score many goals for us, but again we can’t allow the opponents to score three goals when we’re 2-0 up.’
