The first half was one of the worst 45 minutes of football in Premier League history. The pass completion rate was a meagre 72.8%, although it felt lower. There were only two shots on target.
The sun kept popping out from behind the clouds to take a look, and then going back in again, appalled. And the really bad news for Crystal Palace is that, for them, that was the good bit. Newcastle were much improved after the break.
Will Osula touched in a Jacob Murphy cross two minutes after half-time, Joe Willock had an effort ruled out for a marginal offside five minutes later, and Harvey Barnes completed a slick passing move six minutes after that. A smattering of boos from the home fans made clear what everybody already knew. Quarter of an hour of proper football had been enough to win the game, and that leaves Pierre Sage under significant pressure.
To an extent he is a victim of circumstance. Palace are listing after summer sales, Maxence Lacroix and Daniel Muñoz joining the familiar exodus. Two wins in eight league games is troubling, particularly when one of them was as freakish as the previous home game against Nottingham Forest, when they were outplayed for much of the first half and inexplicably went in ahead at half-time.
Nobody could have drawn much confidence from that, and the shellacking they sustained at Brighton last week is the kind of thing that might have got a manager more than a few weeks in the job the sack. There were a couple of early chances. Daichi Kamada sliced his finish after a promising run by Dwight McNeil.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, so devastating when Palace beat Newcastle in April, dragged a shot wide. McNeil rolled a low pass through a vacant six-yard box after good work from Yéremy Pino. But that golden age of incident soon passed.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
