Patrick Vieira praised Crystal Palace’s defensive efforts despite their late defeat at Old Trafford, but says his side need to be more clinical in taking their chances.
“It’s disappointing,” he told Palace TV after the match. “But football is all about taking chances, and I think we worked quite well as a team. We made it really difficult for them.
“We were up for the challenges. We created that opportunity, that chance that we don’t take, and then at the other side we get punished straight away. I feel sorry for the player because they worked hard, and I think they deserved a point today.
“We knew they would have that moment, and in those moments we had to show character and personality, and I think we did it really well. In the second-half we wanted to use the ball a little bit better. We didn’t pass the ball well enough to create as many chances.
“We tried in the second-half and it was a little bit better, but not good enough for the standard that we wanted. So on that part of the game I was a little bit disappointed that we did not play well enough.”
Vieira praised Palace’s defensive efforts despite the result, particularly two players returning to the side in recent games.
“I’m really pleased, because for [Nathaniel] Clyne it was his first start,” he said. “James Tomkins played three games in a week after not playing any so far. They showed their professionalism and their experience, and they did really well today.
“Coming to Old Trafford with those key players that we are missing and performing the way that we did, we can be happy about ourselves. But on the other side, we should have a little bit more maturity to go back home with a point.
“We will need to recover because three games was really demanding physically for us. A couple of players will be back from injury [against Everton next week] and I’m really looking forward to the next home games.
“To play at home in front of our fans, where we will need to bounce back by winning football matches. I’m really looking forward to the game.”
