Sage on Benítez' brilliance & Palace’s display
Pierre Sage piled praise on goalkeeper Walter Benítez after the goalkeeper’s superlative display provided the platform for a first home Premier League win of the season against Nottingham Forest.
The Eagles conceded early in their first game back from the international break and could have fallen further behind after Forest dominated stretches of the first-half – but Benítez’s remarkable saves prevented them from doing so.
In the end, remarkably, Palace turned things around inside the first-half through Daichi Kamada and Jefferson Lerma – and then finished off the contest early in the second period through Yéremy Pino – to claim victory.
“We started well without the mistakes,” Sage said after the game. “After that, we had 20 minutes we were bad and Walter made saves with a lot of bravery.
“I think he kept us in the game, and that was really important at this moment, because you know and you saw that we led 2-1 at half-time.
“I think if it was 2-0 for them, the mentality and everything would be more difficult. His performance today was really crazy and I have to congratulate him because when you play as number two, it's always difficult.
“For the moment, we are really happy with all our keepers because they keep us in a good way to win games.”
Assessing a mixed Palace performance, Sage added: “[I was happy] in moments.
“I think at the beginning or just after the goal, we had a big opportunity to come back to 1-1 with the cross of [Anan] Khalaili and Jørgen Strand Larsen shot high.
“In moments, we have the control of what we do. When we scored the first goal, we changed what we did at the beginning. In our build-up, we played more direct and we played the second ball. But after the second ball, in small spaces, what the players did was really crazy and the 1-1 is really a nice goal.
“And I think the third one is more or less in the same way. That's why this team is able to play – and we need to be as consistent as we were in Leeds.
“But at the end, today we were less good as we were in Leeds, but we won – so we have to deal with that.”
They [the players] give their life on the pitch
—Pierre Sage
A frantic first-half saw both teams create plenty of chances, but Sage is seeking further stability as Palace move into a busy run of fixtures in the next month, adding: “After the first win it's always better to work and improve our way of playing when we win.
“But we have to be honest with what happened on the pitch and I think everybody is aware of that. Every player is aware of that.
“I want to underline one thing: they [the players] give their life on the pitch and sometimes it's a good way to win too.
“We have to do that and be more efficient in the play. But we will be able to do that after games and games because we have that.
“We need to be consistent and I think, after the international break, it's a good result – and that can help us to be good in our future games.”