Oliver Glasner quick to take off the Crystal Palace handbrake as his side showed new attacking edge in his winning start against Burnley
- Burnley were reduced to 10 men in the first half when Josh Brownhill was sent off
- Chris Richards, Jordan Ayew and Jean-Philippe Mateta all scored for Palace
- If Jürgen Klopp had said he would leave 12 months ago, Mauricio Pochettino would have been a good fit at Liverpool. It’s all Kicking Off podcast
Perhaps the Crystal Palace DJ’s decision to release McFadden & Whitehead’s Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now full-time was a little premature. After all, Oliver Glasner’s reign is still in its infancy.
But on an afternoon when it looked like Selhurst Park was being revived, the first signs that Glasner was getting the hang of it came after the Austrian’s first game as Palace boss ended in a 3-0 win over Burnley.
The 49-year-old has only been on the training pitch with his new players for three days but already seems to have taken the handbrake off this side.
A switch to 3-4-3 started at Everton in last Monday’s draw under Paddy McCarthy and continued here. In possession, Palace were able to switch to a 3-2-5, with full-backs Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Munoz flying down the flanks to stretch Burnley’s defense.
The difference was clear as day. Palace have averaged eleven shots per game this season. On Saturday there were fifteen.
Oliver Glasner made a perfect start to life at Crystal Palace with a 3-0 win over Burnley
Palace looked a lot more positive as they secured a convincing victory at Selhurst Park
“We demanded more runs behind the Burnley backline,” Glasner said. ‘We played it against our full-backs and then JP (Jean-Philippe Mateta) attacked the space at the back. They may not have done this very often, so this was nice to see.”
Burnley were a tough nut to crack, especially after Josh Brownhill’s red card in the 35th minute for bringing down Jefferson Lerma after goalkeeper James Trafford’s poor pass.
The same old issue – a lack of cutting edge – looked like it could be Palace’s Achilles heel again. But in the 68th minute, Jordan Ayew crossed the ball to Chris Richards, who headed in his first goal for the club and the first of the Glasner era.
That goal broke the spirit of Burnley. Ayew doubled the lead before Mateta made it three from the penalty spot.