On a morning that had that same tingling feeling to it as if it were Christmas day in August, Patrick Vieira failed to reward the vociferous home support of a Selhurst Park that savoured its first game of football in front of a full house since the end of the pandemic.

The Holmesdale End was painted in red and blue, and a raucous welcoming encouraged three new signings to leave their all out on the pitch, but a first-half that became ascendingly Palace's came to nothing. 

Conor Gallagher had struck the upper echelons of the right post, and the home crowd continued to roar, but their only clear-cut chance of the half turned out to be their only of the game. 

A second Premier League game in a row without seeing the net bulge will worry many of the Crystal Palace faithful, but Vieira's rebuild is still very much a work in progress. 

As for Thomas Frank's Brentford, they will be delighted with the 0-0 scoreline, having been sent from the Championship with one goal in mind: to survive. Being undefeated after their first three hours of top-flight football will leave Bees' fans yearning for what's to come. 

  • Story of the match

It was almost a start that the vocal Crystal Palace fans had dreamt about the night before. After Tyrick Mitchell's tenacious work to find Wilfried Zaha lurking down the right flank, the Ivorian found the onrushing Conor Gallagher.

And after being restricted to play against his parent club Chelsea last weekend, the Epsom-born midfielder was eager to impress on his debut, but the only thing that stopped him was the post.

Palace's attacking endeavours only became more frequent as the first half wore on, while Brentford had to settle for a lack of possession and clear-cut chance.

However, with Christian Benteke missing his chances, and Palace's plethora of creative options failing to inspire many golden opportunities, it gave the visitors a glimmer of hope that their setpieces would carve a goal.

Just before the end of the half, Bryan Mbuemo's free-kick curled and clipped off the top of the crossbar, giving Palace their first cause for concern. 

Embed from Getty Images

The second segment of the game started just as the first ended, with a deadball situation producing a scare for the Eagles. Ivan Toney found some space from close range, but the ball rebounded off his shoulder, and Vicente Guaita was able to deal with it comfortably. 

Unfortunately for the passionate home support, their desire to put on a good display in the stands wasn't translated onto the pitch, and so their array of half-chances didn't produce a goal. 

Joel Ward conjured a cross from the touchline, finding a surging ball into Christian Benteke, but the Belgian couldn't jump high enough to connect. 

Meanwhile, Toney had a similar chance at the other end, and the outcome ended similarly. But, this time, the talisman for the Bees found too much purchase, heading the ball over the crossbar.

The last chance of the game fell to Jordan Ayew, who was a substitute on the day. He almost made an instant impact from the bench when he met Benteke's cross in the box, but the striker's decision to put his laces through it ended up leading his shot to nestle into the stands. 

Palace: Guaita (GK), Ward, Guéhi, Andersen, Mitchell, Kouyaté, McArthur, Gallagher, Zaha, Schlupp (Ayew, 68), Benteke.

Subs not used: Butland (GK), Matthews (GK), Tomkins, Mateta, Kelly Riedewald, Rak-Sakyi.

Brentford: Raya (GK), Henry, Pinnock, Nørgaard, Canós, Onyeka (Ghoddos, 70), Toney, Jansson, Mbeumo (Wissa, 77), Ajer, Janelt (Bidstrup, 87).

Subs not used: Fernández (GK), Goode, Forss, Dervisoglu, Sørensen, Roerslev.

VAVEL Logo
About the author