Four takeaways from Crystal Palace’s 0-0 draw with Brentford – new centre-back duo add solidity as Gallagher also impresses
Crystal Palace picked up their first point of the Patrick Vieira era on Saturday afternoon, drawing 0-0 with newly-promoted Thomas Frank’s Brentford.
The French head coach made three changes from the side that lost 3-0 to Chelsea with Christian Benteke, Conor Gallagher and Joachim Andersen making their first starts of the season.
Palace’s best effort of the match came through Gallagher, who crashed an effort off the crossbar in the 7th minute.
Here are Edmund Brack’s four takeaways from the match:
CONOR GALLAGHER’S FIRST START
The combative Chelsea midfielder gave the returning Selhurst Park crowd a debut to remember. Operating next to James McArthur, Gallagher’s energetic spark added a different dimension to the Crystal Palace midfield, something it had been missing for some time.
His late bursts into the box from midfield created havoc amongst the Brentford defence early on in the game and gave Palace a goal threat from the middle. The Chelsea loanee almost gave Vieira’s side the lead when he whacked an effort off the bar in the seventh minute.
His desire to drive the Eagles up the pitch and determination to win the ball back for his side was evident from the game’s first minute.
PALACE STOP THE GOAL LEAK WITH NEW DUO
Palace have conceded two or more goals in eight of their previous nine Premier League fixtures, so to stop the rot against a buoyant Brentford side will please Vieira.
The Eagles defended resiliently, with the new duo of Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi forming an instinctive partnership at the back.
Although Palace had the majority of the ball in the first half, when called upon, the newly-formed partnership at the back remained resolute against Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo.
Despite being very much second best this afternoon, the Eagles weathered the Brentford onslaught, with Andersen and Guehi marshalling the backline into shape.
BENTEKE COULD NEED A FORWARD PARTNER
Christian Benteke won seven aerial battles throughout the game, only to see the ball fall to a yellow shirt on multiple occasions.
Palace’s pursuit of Adam Armstrong, who joined Southampton and scored on his debut, shows that the Eagles are searching for a different type of forward who could play alongside or instead of the Belgian.
Benteke’s efforts, although valiant, were wasted by the lack of support he had running off him.
In the second half, both Jeffrey Schlupp and Wilfried Zaha were hugging the touchline, which left the 30-year-old isolated up top on his own.
PATIENCE IS NEEDED
In the second half, when the home side were penned deep inside their own penalty area and attempted to play their way out from the back, a few grumbles from the home fans at the style of play became apparent.
It was always going to be an evolution and not a revolution, so adapting to ball-playing centre-backs and to a side that looks to play between the lines will take some time.
PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD
Very positive day for Patrick V. He needs the “horses”. Anderson, Giehli, Gallagher were very positive. —There is plenty of “dead wood” used to playing a defensive system. Schlupp had a bad day as did Ayew off the bench. Zaha doesn’t have that spark and Benteke is very much still the mystery.—They still need a player who can score. Looks like Matetta is on his way out. Right wing is an issue with Townsend gone.—Vieira has it figured out but he needs the players. Both Eze and Olise are injured and that is a hurt. They have two weeks to bring in a couple more players to give this team some clout. — The bottom line is that they need someone to score. If Zaha continues to have a mediocre showing, then it is time to sell him and use the money to beef up the squad.