Crystal Palace centre-back Joachim Andersen has explained why he was taking goal kicks for the Eagles on Saturday against Brentford.
The Danish international took Palace’s goal kicks instead of goalkeeper Vicente Guaita several times at the Brentford Community Stadium and to varying success.
The Eagles tied the game 0-0 with their London neighbours, failing to break through their stubborn defence while showing off some equally stern determination to keep a clean sheet themselves.
Speaking to PalaceTV after the game, Andersen said that the reason he took the goal kicks was due to the visitors noticing a weakness they thought they might be able to exploit in the Brentford defence.
“It was just because it was something we analysed, how they were pressing,” he said. “I kick it quite far so we thought that’s where the space was because it was difficult to play out from the back when they press so high.
“I think we managed it well. Jordan [Ayew] got in some good situations and we managed to pick up the second balls so I think that was good.”
Palace came closest to breaking the deadlock in the game during the first half when Jordan Ayew was set free on the right to burst into the box.
He was unable to make the most of his opportunity, however, skewing the ball high and wide of David Raya’s goal to see the chance go begging.
It summed up Palace’s performance offensively, with the team failing to get into the box and force chances on Brentford’s goal.
“They work so hard,” Andersen added. “They pressed, they’re aggressive. They stood well defensively and defended the box well so it was difficult to find the holes, find the gaps and we didn’t manage it today.
“It was a tough game, hard game, and a hard week. [I’m] disappointed really, to be honest. I thought against Norwich we should have won and today I have a little bit the same feeling.
“Again we didn’t create enough today. We should have been better in the last third of the pitch, but it was a solid performance defensively.
“We’ve been speaking about it this week: we need more runs between the lines, more movements, more bodies in the box. We didn’t really manage that today I think.
“Of course, it’s difficult to get the whole picture of it right after the game but I don’t feel we had enough people in the box or did enough to create some chances.”
