Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew feels his side are not getting the luck they ‘deserve’ at the moment as his side slipped to another defeat at the hands of Chelsea.
A goal just before half-time from Diego Costa stretched Chelsea’s winning run to a club equalling 11 games and also further put light between them and the chasing pack at the top of table.
Palace has really struggled this calendar year, only winning six times. But Pardew felt his players have performed well in the past two games against Manchester United and Chelsea despite losing them both.
Palace were ‘committed’ admits Palace but praises Chelsea defensive resolution
It wasn’t as one-sided as people might have thought prior to the game; Palace played well throughout the first-half and restricted Chelsea to very few opportunities.
And when the opportunities arose, the Eagles did try to show some attacking flair themselves, but a late first-half goal from Costa was enough to settle to the contest.
After the game under-pressure Pardew spoke about his team’s performance: "We've shown in the last two games what we've shown in the last year really."
In previous seasons Palace have really struggled to find the net, but this year they have scored goals quite frequently but they are also conceding at an alarming rate too. But at Selhurst Park on Saturday it was the first time Palace have failed to score for a number of games.
"We're committed and it was a strong performance today, but they didn't give us anything. They are the first team we've not scored against for a while but they defended superbly well,” said Pardew.
Pardew insists Palace need points on the board
It’s getting to a pivotal point in the season, and with Palace entrenched in such a difficult position, the former Newcastle United manager insists his team must start to get some ‘points’ on the board.
"This team is not getting what it deserves in my opinion and I think that will correct itself," admitted Pardew.
Palace have had a tricky past couple of games, and with Watford to come on Boxing Day the Palace faithful will be hopeful they can pick up a positive result. Then the Eagles face Arsenal on New Year’s Day which will be another tough game against a title chasing side. But after that they face sides that are in the same situation, teams such as Swansea and West Ham.
Speaking about the need to get points, Pardew said: "The difference for us now is that we're coming into a run of games against teams in and around us. We've got to get points.”
If Pardew wasn’t under pressure before, he certainly is now. Although the two losses have come against two top teams, Palace really need to start producing the goods because otherwise it’s going to get a bit sketchy for Palace in the run up towards May.