Patrick Vieira makes Crystal Palace attacking admission after goalless draw with Newcastle United

Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira admitted that his side did not cause Newcastle United enough problems during their goalless draw on Saturday evening.

This was Palace’s third game in the space of six days. Vieira’s side suffered a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea and picked up a point in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in midweek.

The Frenchman made four changes after Wednesday night’s draw with Erik ten Hag’s side, with Jeffrey Schlupp, Eberechi Eze, Joel Ward and Jordan Ayew all coming into the starting line-up.

Palace only registered one shot on target during the 90 minutes – Jean-Philippe Mateta forcing a good save from Nick Pope in the 72nd minute.

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle had more shots [16] and more possession [62 per cent] than the Eagles.

“You always want more, but at the same time, you have to realise the teams that we have played,” said the Palace boss of their recent schedule.

“We have played Chelsea, we played United, and today Newcastle – those three teams are at a different level. But it was important for us to try and compete as best as we can against those teams. We did well against those teams.

“Today it wasn’t easy, at all, but we competed well and we got the points which I strongly believe we deserved.

“The game today showed us that the other side of the game is really important for us. It’s not just about playing, having the ball, and trying to play nice football.

“Today was all about defending well, sticking together, working well on the set pieces, defending the second ball on the set pieces and making it really difficult for them.

“That side of the game, we did really well. 

“The other side was that when we had the ball, we didn’t use it well enough to give them problems or create chances.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD