Report and reaction: Nine man Palace slip to Fulham defeat

Please refresh this page periodically for all the latest reaction from Selhurst Park.

Summary:

• Guaita saves superbly from Pereira’s long-range free-kick.
• Ayew thunders an effort off the crossbar from the edge of the box.
• De Cordova Reid gives Fulham the lead after a wonderful Mitrovic delivery.
• Mitchell is shown a straight red card just before half-time.
• HT: Palace 0-1 Fulham
• Palace are reduced to nine as Tomkins is shown a second yellow.
• Pereira hits the outside of the post.
• Mitrovic knocks the ball down for Ream to slam home a second.
• The Serbian striker adds a third, nodding home from close range.
• FT: Palace 0-3 Fulham

The first home game in almost seven weeks was always likely to produce an impressive atmosphere, but the afternoon began in moving fashion with tributes paid to legendary musician and former Palace associate director Maxi Jazz and England World Cup winner George Cohen.

The visitors started more brightly and looked confident in possession, but their first real opportunity came from a set-piece as Andreas Pereira’s audacious effort forced an excellent save from Vicente Guaita.

Palace grew into the game, and came within inches of taking the lead at the other end. Michael Olise fed Jordan Ayew, playing his first match since returning from the World Cup with Ghana, who thundered an effort off the top of the crossbar.

The Eagles were made to rue their profligacy moments later, as Bobby De Cordova Reid nodded Fulham in front. It was all about the delivery, Aleksandar Mitrovic turning provider to produce a sumptuous cross that De Cordova Reid could glance home.

Things went from bad to worse as Palace were reduced to ten men. It was a classic 50-50 challenge, but Tyrick Mitchell got there a second too late and his contact was high; there were few complaints from the left-back as Andy Madley brandished a straight red card.

After the break it was a case of déjà vu, and the Eagles found themselves down to nine. This time it was James Tomkins, shown a second yellow card for an alleged elbow to the face of Mitrovic.

From then on it was all Fulham. Pereira raced into the penalty area and struck the outside of the post, before a stunning save from Guaita prevented Mitrovic powering home a second with his head.

Mitrovic was not to be denied, however, and soon he got his second assist of the game, knocking a corner down for Tim Ream to slam home from close range.

He found the net himself before long, and it was a striker’s goal: hovering in the six-yard box, he was perfectly placed to nod home a mishit shot from close range.

A frustrating afternoon in the extreme for Patrick Vieira and his players, but next up is Bournemouth on New Years’ Eve.

Palace: Guaita (GK), Clyne (Ward, 67), Tomkins, Andersen, Mitchell, Doucouré (Milivojevic, 83), Eze (Richards, 60), Schlupp (Riedewald, 83), Ayew, Zaha, Olise (Hughes, 83).

Subs not used: Butland (GK), Edouard, Ebiowei, Gordon.

Fulham: Leno (GK), Tete, Reed, Mitrovic (Vinicius, 85), Ream, De Cordova-Reid (Wilson, 81), Pereira (Harris, 85), Willian (James, 82), Palhinha (Cairney, 75), Diop, Robinson.

Subs not used: Rodak (GK), Adarabioyo, Duffy, Chalobah.

Andersen: We have to pick our heads up

17:45

Joachim Andersen says Palace need to ‘pick their heads up’ after defeat to Fulham with a strong performance at Bournemouth.

“Obviously it was a disappointing performance,” he said. “Losing 3-0 at home is never nice but there is not much to say. There are so many games so we need to get our heads up and win against Bournemouth.

“For me, it was not just about the pressing. It was about some basic things we didn’t do right today. We didn’t compete in our duels and that’s why we didn’t get control in the game. It is difficult to say at the minute what exactly went wrong, but we need to analyse in the coming days.

“We need to see what went wrong, and then we will make an evaluation about what we can do better.”

Andersen says Tyrick Mitchell will recover strongly from the first red card of his career.

“Of course he is disappointed,” he said. “You are always disappointed when you get a red card. I think it was a little harsh.

“It makes a difference but we were still in the game for a long time, even though we didn’t play well. But after 2-0 it is difficult.

“We can’t do anything about it now, we need to go again. This match is finished. We didn’t get what we wanted but we have a game soon again. Hopefully we can finish that game with 11 players and then I know we will have a good chance to win.”

Vieira reacts to Fulham defeat

17:30

Patrick Vieira says that despite the two red cards his side received, it was the overall performance that let Palace down.

“From the first minute I would say that Fulham were the better team,” he said in his post-match press conference. “We had to do aspects of the game where we weren’t present, and at the end we get what we deserve.

“We didn’t do anything today to get something from that game. It is really difficult to understand right now and this is one of the frustrations that I had, because I was really pleased with what I saw in the last couple of weeks in training and I expected a better performance from the team.

“This shows again the quality of the Premier League. Look at Fulham and the team, and the quality they have. We still have a lot of work to do to compete and today we didn’t compete at all.

“Of course, the two red cards didn’t help us but outside of those situations it was more the performance from the first minute that let us down.”

Full-time

90+5 mins

An afternoon that Patrick Vieira will hope to forget in a hurry, as nine man Palace are defeated at the hands of Fulham.

Next up is Bournemouth on New Years’ Eve.

90+3 mins

Zaha makes tracks down the right and Palace have a free-kick on the edge of the area.

It's a decent delivery from Milivojevic, but it's behind for a goal-kick.

90+1 mins

We’re into five minutes of added time.

Substitutions

84 mins

Palace make a triple change, with Will Hughes, Luka Milivojevic and Jairo Riedewald replacing Olise, Schlupp and Doucouré.

Fulham make several changes of their own, with Harry Wilson, Dan James and Carlos Vinicius among the replacements.

GOAL

Palace 0-3 Fulham (Mitrovic)

80 mins

A third goal for the visits, and it’s the ever-present Aleksandar Mitrovic.

He builds on his fine World Cup form with two assists and now a goal today and it’s a striker’s finish, hovering in the six-yard box to nod home a mishit effort on goal.

78 mins

It’s been one of Vicente Guaita’s busier afternoons.

First Pereira finds himself in acres of space 12-yards out, but strikes tamely at the ‘keeper. Then Mitrovic rises highest at the far post once again, but can’t pick out the bottom corner with Guaita blocking smartly.

73 mins

Goal given.

72 mins

Hang on a minute, VAR are checking for a possible handball...

GOAL

Palace 0-2 Fulham (Ream)

71 mins

Fulham double their advantage, and it’s the captain Tim Ream.

It came from a corner, as Pereira’s cross was knocked down by Mitrovic and then smashed home by the American international.

69 mins

A rare chance for Palace to come forwards and it’s two on two, but Olise tries to shoot instead of picking out Zaha and it’s blocked.

Substitution

67 mins

Off comes Nathaniel Clyne, on comes Joel Ward

64 mins

What a save that is from Guaita.

Mitrovic rises highest at the far-post and most of Selhurst Park brace for the net to bulge, but the Spaniard gets down sharply to keep it out – somehow.

Chance

61 mins

It’s so tough for Palace now, down to nine, to hold firm in the face of constant Fulham attacks.

This time Andreas Pereira finds his way inside box and strikes the outside of the woodwork.

Substitution

59 mins

Patrick Vieira has reacted instantly to that second red card, and on comes Chris Richards in place of Ebere Eze.

Red card

58 mins

Palace are down to nine.

James Tomkins, booked in the first-half, is shown a second yellow card for an alleged elbow to the face of Aleksandar Mitrovic.

54 mins

Better from the Eagles, as Ayew tries to pick out Zaha in the middle and Fulham make a mess of the clearance, but it comes to nothing.

50 mins

Palace are certainly showing more attacking intent in the second-half, but the man disadvantage makes it tricky to commit numbers forwards.

As it stands, Fulham are still seeing the majority of possession.

Kick-off

46 mins

We’re back underway at Selhurst Park – can Palace find a way back into this game?

No changes for either side at the break.

Half-time

45+2 mins

A frustrating opening period for Palace and they have to produce something special to get back into this game with a man disadvantage.

Fulham have played well but their lead is still just a single goal, and anything could happen after the break.

45+1 mins

We are into two additional minutes.

40 mins

Fulham have so many men in the area that two get in the way of one another, and Andersen can scramble it away for a corner.

From the set-piece, Mitrovic fires over at the near post.

36 mins

Jeff Schlupp has moved to left-back, with Doucouré and Eze a midfield duo behind the three attacking players.

Red card

34 mins

Things go from bad to worse for Palace as they are reduced to ten men.

It’s a classic 50-50 challenge on halfway, and Tyrick Mitchell slides in an effort to steal the ball away, but it’s late and he catches the Fulham midfielder high on the shin.

It’s a straight red card and now Palace have a real mountain to climb.

GOAL

Palace 0-1 Fulham (De Cordova Reid)

31 mins

Fulham take the lead, and the goal is all about the delivery from Aleksandar Mitrovic. Palace play themselves intro trouble as they look to move on the break, and Mitrovic finds space to turn in behind.

He pauses to assess his options before picking out a sumptuous delivery to Bobby De Cordova Reid, who simply has to nod home from six yards out. Guaita had no chance.

Chance!

26 mins

You can’t come closer than this!

Palace break forwards through Olise, who squeezes a pass through a crowd of bodies to Ayew on the edge of the area. It sits up for him nicely and his effort is well-struck, but it cannons off the crossbar and over.

Chance

23 mins

Oooh, Palace are almost in.

It’s a wonderful through ball to Jordan Ayew, who meets it first-time from the right and tries to feed Wilfried Zaha. It’s slightly ahead of him, and Zaha can’t get there before it’s poked behind.

Booking

19 mins

James Tomkins is shown a yellow card for a physical battle with Mitrovic.

16 mins

Mitrovic races in behind but is denied by the offside flag.

At the other end Palace come forwards through Jeff Schlupp, but he is brought down on near the centre circle. The hosts are growing into the game but are still looking for that spark.

12 mins

First intake of breath from the Palace fans as Zaha tries to latch onto a ball in behind, but the ‘keeper comes out well to sweep up. Olise then looks for Ayew but the pass is overhit.

10 mins

Fulham are passing confidently around the midfield, as Palace stay resolute in defence.

Chance

6 mins

Mitrovic is down after colliding with Clyne – there didn’t seem to be much in that. Fulham have a free-kick 30-yards out nonetheless, and the Serbian forward picks himself back to his feet.

Pereira strikes it…and it’s so close to sneaking under the crossbar but Guaita manages to tip over the top.

What an effort.

4 mins

It’s a positive start for the visitors, and Palace are having to make do with Fulham having the vast majority of early possession.

2 mins

An early free-kick by the corner flag causes trouble in the Palace box, but it’s eventually scrambled away at the third time of asking.

Kick-off

1 min

We're underway - COME ON PALACE!

14:59

The players are ready to go, and we await the referee's whistle to get back to Premier League action.

14:57

Before kick-off the players will take part in a moment’s applause in memory of Fulham and England legend George Cohen MBE who passed away on 23rd December aged 83.

Cohen, who was once named by George Best as “the best full-back I ever played against”, featured in every game for the Three Lions as they won the World Cup in 1966.

14:53

Palace are walking out this afternoon to a track by Faithless in tribute to legendary musician Maxwell Fraser, better known by his stage name Maxi Jazz.

Born in Brixton, Maxi Jazz rose to prominence as the lead singer of the band, wowing audiences across the continent and achieving iconic status for their performances at Glastonbury.

He became an Associate Director of Crystal Palace in 2012, and continued to live in West Norwood throughout his career.

A lifelong fan, he regularly attended Selhurst Park and will be missed by all those at SE25. As a tribute, the team will walk out to a Faithless track on Boxing Day.

The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Maxi Jazz’s family at this time.

14:50

Kick-off is just ten minutes away...

14:45

The lads are just completing their warm-ups, and soon the players will be out for the main event itself.

Andersen: We cannot wait to play at Selhurst again

14:35

Joachim Andersen says he and his Palace teammates cannot wait to experience the Selhurst Park atmosphere once again, as he plays his first game since coming back from the World Cup in Qatar.

“We are looking forward to being back,” he said. “We have been waiting for this for some time, and cannot wait for today.

“Of course it’s been a little bit stressful to get back to it [from the World Cup] but I feel ready and I cannot wait to play today.

“I think everyone knows that we are really good at home. We enjoy playing here with our fans and the atmosphere they bring to the stadium, so we really enjoy playing here.

“Of course we will miss [Marc Guéhi], he is a quality player, but we have some other good players who can replace him so hopefully they can do as well as him.

14:25

Patrick Vieira has been speaking to the media before the game – with confidence that James Tomkins can perform in the absence of Marc Guéhi.

“We have missed the fans – it’s our first game [back] in front of our fans,” he told Amazon Prime. “Hopefully we can make the difference.

“It’s the experience and it’s about how well [Tomkins] has been playing in the last couple of weeks. I think he was just waiting for the opportunity to play and that opportunity is today.

“He has great experience of playing in the Premier League, and we have players around who have played a lot of games so the confidence will be there. We have to perform well as a team to help him show his quality.

“[We have placed] a lot of emphasis on the details of the game. We will try to be more consistent in and out of possession. Hopefully I see we have improved as a team, we are more consistent in the way we play and we show the improvement we have made in the last couple of weeks.”

14:15

You’ve seen the team news, you’ve followed the build-up – now get into the real detail with our in-depth match preview by clicking HERE.

Team news

14:00

The lineups are in, and Patrick Vieira has made a single change from the side defeated at the City Ground last time out, with James Tomkins coming in for the suspended Marc Guéhi.

Tomkins partners Joachim Andersen in defence, with the Dane captaining the side after taking part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Tyrick Mitchell and Nathaniel Clyne start at full-back.

Cheick Doucouré anchors the midfield alongside Ebere Eze and Jeff Schlupp, while Jordan Ayew – who also featured at the World Cup – and Michael Olise are either side of Wilfried Zaha in attack.

There are plenty of attacking options off the bench, with Malcolm Ebiowei, Odsonne Edouard and Academy striker John-Kymani Gordon available, while defender Chris Richards returns to a Premier League squad after recovering from injury.

Palace: Guaita (GK), Clyne, Tomkins, Andersen, Mitchell, Doucouré, Eze, Schlupp, Ayew, Zaha, Olise.

Subs: Butland (GK), Ward, Milivojevic, Hughes, Edouard, Ebiowei, Richards, Riedewald, Gordon.

Fulham: Leno (GK), Tete, Reed, Mitrovic, Ream, De Cordova-Reid, Peieira, Willian, Palhinha, Diop, Robinson.

Subs: Rodak (GK), Adarabioyo, Duffy, Wilson, Cairney, James, Chalobah, Vinicius, Harris.

13:55

Team news is just five minutes away…

13:45

Patrick Vieira was addressing the media this week during his pre-match press conference

“[Jordan Ayew and Joachim Andersen] are good,” he said. “After they went out of the World Cup they had a couple of days and have been back in training since. They’re really good mentally, physically and are ready to go again.

“The two players we had came back in really good shape; mentally they were good. Looking at the [League Cup] game between Liverpool and Man City, the [other World Cup] players are in a good place.”

Discussing the aims of the break, Vieira said he wanted his players to work hard in the absence of competitive action.

“We had a difficult pre-season where we had two groups, so it was really difficult to work more on details. The 10 days we had in Turkey allowed us to focus on some important parts of the game that will allow us to improve as a team.

“[Working hard] was the plan. It was important to keep the tempo and rhythm of the Premier League. We had the first couple of weeks off, then a really good trip in Turkey. The players are working well and working hard. We’re ready to go.”

13:35

The stage is set…

Previous meetings

13:25

It has been almost two years since the sides last met in a goalless draw at Selhurst Park in February 2021, but the Eagles managed to come out on top in all three of their previous encounters, with Jaïro Riedewald and Wilfried Zaha on the scoresheet at Craven Cottage in their most recent victory.

Boxing Day will see Palace take on their London rivals for the first time under Patrick Vieira, but the Frenchman faced Fulham nine times as a player, winning eight and scoring in a 4-1 win at Highbury.

13:15

The lads have arrived…

Welcome back to Selhurst

13:00

We've been expecting you for some time...

It's been seven long weeks since Odsonne Edouard scored the only goal in a confident Palace victory against Southampton, and the Eagles haven't had a competitive game in south London since.

But now, after the long World Cup break, the Premier League is back...