5 days ago
2
In several recent interviews and media conferences, Oliver Glasner has mentioned that his side are fighting for their lives, and you can see his point.
With the number of players sidelined by injury and Johnson the only new arrival so far, his stretched squad simply struggle to muster the energy to go toe-to-toe with opponents.
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Palace's first-half intentions were clear - stay in the match while conserving energy for a second-half assault.
To their credit, the approach almost worked. Johnson was a constant threat, and on another night the nice interplay between the new signing, Yeremy Pino and Jean-Philippe Mateta might have produced a goal.
"It was our 33rd game of the season and we could only make one substitution because we needed JP [Mateta] to defend set-plays," Glasner told Sky Sports.
"When I see what the players are doing, it is incredible, huge credit to them."
Marc Guehi produced another solid defensive performance, with no sense of him being distracted by transfer interest from Manchester City, but Glasner could offer no guarantee on his captain's future.
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"I think Marc will stay, but if he says 'I want to leave' and a club pays massive money with five months left of his contract, then any player would leave if you are a club like Palace," Glasner said.
"We are not at the end of the food chain in football."
On this occasion Palace were not able to continue their strong form against Villa – they had won nine of their previous 13 Premier League home games against them.
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