Sage on Palace claiming a late point

The Eagles conceded early in SE25 but pushed throughout the game for an equaliser – even after going one man down late on – and claimed a point thanks to Daichi Kamada’s injury-time strike.

The Manager told his post-match press conference: “With this scenario, by conceding early in the game it was difficult because we had to push to come back.

“We created chances and they created too. Dean Henderson kept us in the game, that’s why it’s difficult to say it’s 100 percent on our side or their side, but with this save he kept us in the game and we scored at the end.

“I think the players deserved it, because they didn’t give up, and that’s the main thing I want to keep this evening.”

What is important in this situation is to stay alive and to push
—Pierre Sage

On the performance as a whole, Sage observed: “Offensively we did better as you know than our two previous games.

“We have to continue to improve defensively because we gave too much space to the opponent. We are sometimes in difficulty in 1v1s, in duels, and that’s why they created these kind of chances.

“But when we defend too much we have no chance to exist in the game, and when we try to attack, we are quickly open. What is difficult for us is to find the balance between the two things.

"The last games it was really difficult to attack. At Fulham, we scored one goal in the end but we didn’t create too many chances.

“We can defend better, we can defend as a team when we defend low. But when we solve something a new thing emerges and we have to deal with that.

“That’s why I think the best way for this team is to keep the ball, and to keep the ball with efficiency, and this evening we showed that too."

As for Palace's mentality, the Manager added: “What is important in this situation is to stay alive and to push – and we pushed until the end and created chances.

“What is important is to keep in mind that we tried all the game to come back, and at the end we came back, and we had maybe the chance to have more.”