Crystal Palace set for training ground work on set-pieces as they prove weak spot in 3-3 draw at Burnley

Patrick Vieira insisted that his Crystal Palace side will spend time working on set-pieces in training after conceding two goals against Burnley from crosses into the penalty area – and added that his side lacked the maturity to manage the game.

Despite taking the lead through Christian Benteke in the eighth minute, Palace undid their bright start and found themselves 2-1 down from two set-pieces, with Ben Mee and Chris Wood both finishing inside the area following crosses into the box.

Palace were quickly back on level terms when Conor Gallagher’s composed touch and intricate footwork set up Benteke for his second of the afternoon in the 36th minute. The first-half comeback was complete when Marc Guehi fired home his first goal for the club in the 42nd minute.

Burnley levelled the encounter when Maxwel Cornet was left unmarked at the back post to fire an emphatic volley past Guaita just four minutes into the second half.

“I was a little bit disappointed with how we managed the game,” admitted Vieira. “But, at the same time, that’s just showing that the team needs to grow, and there is a maturity that we didn’t have today to manage the game better.

“We need to improve that aspect of the game because, in the modern game, set-pieces are massively important, and we will need to spend more time in training to deal with those set-pieces.

“It’s just about how we conceded or gave away those set-pieces. When you come to Burnley, you expect to suffer in the air, and we have to manage and deal with it. At times we did it well.

“Teams we will face will look at our strengths and weaknesses and prepare themselves. We have to look at ourselves and work out how to improve that side of our game – what can we do to be better and stronger? We have to spend time and work on that.”

 Despite scoring three goals away from home for the first time under his tenure and extending their unbeaten run to seven in the Premier League, Vieira believes “there is still a lot more to come from the team, especially going forward.”

He added: “We were really good when we built up from the back, and we created a situation where we had people and players running in behind.

“I was really pleased with the three goals that we scored, but we could have been a bit more dangerous. At times, we didn’t make the simple or the right decision – we complicated ourselves a little bit too much.”