Crystal Palace lose to Newcastle as Pierre Sage rues a missed 15 minutes

Crystal Palace lost 2-0 at home to Newcastle in the Premier League. After the defeat, Pierre Sage lamented the 15 minutes in which, in his view, his side lost concentration after returning from the dressing room. The result adds to the pressure on the French manager.

The league position underlines the concern: Crystal Palace are 17th on 7 points after 8 matches, just 1 point above the relegation zone. Newcastle are eighth, 4 points ahead. Palace have 2 wins, 1 draw and 5 defeats, with 9 goals scored and 19 conceded. Across their last 5 league matches, they have won once, drawn once and lost three times.

Newcastle are 8th with 11 points, while Crystal Palace are 17th with 7 points, a gap of 4 points.

The defensive concerns had already surfaced on Thursday against Besiktas: Palace conceded twice from the opponents’ only two shots on target. Against Newcastle, Sage felt his team had limited chances from open play more effectively, but not enough to change the outcome. After falling behind, Crystal Palace responded but could not turn that reaction into goals.

“We missed 15 minutes when we came back from the dressing room,” Sage said. He added that allowing an opponent to take the initiative without pressure or a response makes things difficult. “Here every mistake, every situation that is bad for the team will be a goal,” he said.

The manager acknowledged that the pressure remained because he had not found a solution, and described the defeat as a mental rather than a tactical problem. He also said his approach was to defend by having the ball, while accepting that Palace are conceding too many goals and need to improve, especially defensively.

Crystal Palace have now lost two Premier League matches in a row; the other was a 5-0 defeat by Brighton. Sage said he remained confident he could improve the team’s fortunes. He added that his future had not been discussed in his regular conversations with club chairman Steve Parish. “Inside, we are just really focused on solutions,” he said, adding that the team would continue working to create the conditions to compete better.