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Oliver Glasner thanked Crystal Palace’s loyal fanbase for sticking with the team during their “bad start” to the season, declaring the 3-1 win away against rivals Brighton as “a chance for us to give them a first Christmas gift”.
While much of the acclaim naturally landed at the door of Ismaila Sarr for scoring twice to seal a deserved victory for the Eagles, just as pleasing to the manager and his backroom staff was another astute defensive display (Marc Guehi’s freakish late own goal aside).
Palace are unbeaten in five games now, and at the heart of their upturn has been the emergence of a consistent and increasingly reliable back three of Maxence Lacroix, Trevoh Chalobah and Guehi.
The trio have started 10 of the last 11 games across all competitions, and while Guehi has not yet shown the best of himself this season, summer signings Lacroix and Chalobah have both been on a steady upward trajectory.
Against Brighton, both threw themselves into vital blocks in a second half when the hosts saw 80 per cent of possession but couldn’t break through Palace’s stubborn back line. And they made plenty of clean challenges, too. Palace players have entered into more tackles this season (343) than any other Premier League outfit.
“Our back three is completely new, because Marc was injured at the end of last season when we arrived, so he never played in the back three,” Glasner said.
“Then he went to the Euros and arrived 10 days before the Premier League started. The other two arrived two weeks after the Premier League started, on deadline day. Then Marc went away to England again, and then Trevoh wasn’t allowed to train with the team at Chelsea [his parent club].
At the heart of Palace’s upturn has been the emergence of a consistent and increasingly reliable back three
“We didn’t have time to train. We’ve had a lot of challenges, but everybody was always calm and the players always listening. They know how we want to play and defend. It gets better and better, and you can see this now over the last few weeks.”
With the way chemistry is so swiftly developing between Guehi, Lacroix and Chalobah, who scored the opener against Brighton, it is difficult to see how the injured Chadi Riad can force his way into the starting lineup when back fit. He may just be too late.
While Palace earned their win at the Amex Stadium, Glasner was bending the truth when he said his side had controlled most of the match.
In the second half, the introduction of Julio Enciso from the bench sparked Brighton into life, and they might have got something from the game if goalkeeper Dean Henderson had not denied the Paraguayan twice and Kaoru Mitoma and Lewis Dunk once each with great saves.
Between the goalkeeper and the three centre-backs, Palace now appear to have a solid defensive base. Typically, their manager is demanding more.
“I’m still pretty sure this is not the best level they can play, because I know them,” Glasner said. “This is what we will push for.”
