Record breaking defeat as Palace take the points
A 2-0 defeat, this one against Crystal Palace, has followed home losses against Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea to give us a much unwanted record of becoming the first team ever in English top flight football to lose its first six home games in a season.
In the end, despite dominating the game for periods, we can have no complaint at the result. When you continue to give away the softest of goals, it’s a recipe for disaster and we gifted Palace the lead midway through the first half and then conceded a second in stoppage time to allow Roy Hodgson’s well organised teams to take all three points back with them to Selhurst Park.
We changed our routine yesterday in an attempt to change our fortunes at home. I know it’s a ridiculous thing to do but I’m sure we were not the only fans doing daft things to try and bring that change. It didn’t work. I’ve since realised that I’ve either made my way to games this season either by bus or getting a lift. The last time I walked it was for the Cardiff game at the end of last season.
Routine changed, the team news came in and there were three changes from the team that had lost in the previous league game at Bournemouth seven days earlier. We knew Josh Cullen was out with a suspension; he was replaced by Sander Berge. Jordan Beyer returned from injury with Ameen Al-Dakhi and in the continued absence of Lyle Foster with a shuffle up front including a start for Jay Rodriguez, his first league start since we beat Coventry at home in January. It was his first Premier League start since we beat Wolves in April last year, significantly the last time we won any points at home and the last time, home or away, that we kept a clean sheet in this league.
Little had been seen of Palace at all other than one free kick from which they got in a header straight at James Trafford and it did look as though we just needed that opening goal. Sometimes, though, you need that little bit of good fortune, but when it came, it went Palace’s way. Trafford, in dealing with a Charlie Taylor back pass, was taken out by Palace striker Odsonne Édouard. Referee Peter Bankes, who I thought had an excellent game, immediately got out the yellow card, but I really do believe that the Palace player was very, very fortunate to stay on the pitch. I remain surprised that Paul Tierney on VAR did not recommend an upgrade to red.
Just a few minutes later, we did what we do. We lost possession of the ball from which we conceded the opening goal. This time it’s Beyer losing out to Jordan Ayew who advanced into the box before crossing low for Jeffrey Schlupp to score a Premier League goal against us for a fourth time. Yes, Beyer was culpable for losing the ball but how on earth we allowed Schlupp to get in to finish unchallenged is beyond me.
Midway through the first half, we were behind and we haven’t come back in one single game this season once we’ve fallen behind. That was the challenge ahead of us and it was one that we were unable to win.
There is no doubt that much of the play in the second half was the Clarets going forward in search of an equaliser. We forced Johnstone into some saves, Rodriguez headed one effort wide and Guðmundsson should have done better from a tight angle when he received the ball from Koleosho.
We did get the ball in the net through Jay Rod but this week we didn’t have to wait five and a half minutes for it to be ruled out. There were no lines in the wrong place, no tight calls, this time he was clearly offside.
It was the 78th minute before we made our first change with both Nathan Redmond and Wilson Odobert coming on. We continued our search; Josh Brownhill and Rodriguez were both denied by Johnstone and it was clear time was running out. Mike Trésor and then Jacob Bruun Larsen were introduced but we couldn’t find that elusive goal and we paid in stoppage time when Palace got a second.
No drums, thankfully, and no flags, but the Burnley fans had got behind the team all afternoon but this was the cue for most of them to depart and when the final whistle blew on another home defeat, the ground was close to empty other than the celebrating Palace fans in the cricket field stand.
I knew we were creating records with this awful run at home which has now stretched to six defeats in succession this season and eight in total in the Premier League, but I’d no idea it was the worst in top flight English football since the Football League was introduced. Previous to this, the worst run encountered was four in 2010 and then again in 2021.
It hasn’t been the best weekend with Sheffield United winning and Luton picking up a point. We haven’t moved from 19th and we are still just a win from climbing out of the relegation positions. Ominously though, we are now seven points behind Everton, the lowest placed club above the bottom four.
This is not early season any longer, just about 30% of the season has been played. I’m sure we will improve as the season progresses but we are going to have to start improving very soon. Four points from eleven games is far short of where we really need to be.
It’s only Arsenal next at the Emirates, then a break. Whatever happens at Arsenal, we are really going to have to kick on after this next international break and start increasing that points total and getting up the table. We know now that one of that bottom four has to survive. It has to be us.
The teams were;
Burnley: James Trafford, Vitinho, Dara O’Shea, Jordan Beyer (Mike Trésor 86), Charlie Taylor, Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson (Jacob Bruun Larsen 90+2), Sander Berge, Josh Brownhill, Luca Koleosho (Wilson Odobert 78), Jay Rodriguez, Zeki Amdouni (Nathan Redmond 78). Subs not used: Arijanet Muric, Connor Roberts, Hannes Delcroix, Han-Noah Massengo, Anass Zaroury.
Crystal Palace: Sam Johnstone, Joel Ward (Nathaniel Clyne 70), Joachim Andersen, Marc Guéhi, Tyrick Mitchell, Cheick Doucouré (Eberechi Eze 58), Jefferson Lerma, Jordan Ayew, Will Hughes, Jeffrey Schlupp (Naouirou Ahamada 70), Odsonne Édouard (Chris Richards 86). Subs not used: Remi Matthews, Rob Holding, Matheus França de Oliveira, Jean-Phillipe Mateta, Jairo Riedewald.
Yellow Cards: Odsonne Édouard, Marc Guéhi, Jordan Ayew, Jefferson Lerma, Joachim Andersen.
Referee: Peter Bankes (Liverpool).
Attendance: to be confirmed.
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