Richards: It was a game of ups and downs
Chris Richards has challenged Crystal Palace to ‘keep looking forward’ after the disappointment of Sunday’s defeat at Manchester United.
Despite having three days’ less preparation time than their hosts, Palace were much the better side in the opening half-an-hour at Old Trafford and were good value for the 1-0 lead bestowed upon them at half-time thanks to Maxence Lacroix’s early header.
But after a controversial moment led to Lacroix being dismissed and the hosts being awarded a penalty, United completed a second-half turnaround to leave Palace frustrated – but by no means forlorn, according to Richards.
“It’s a tough one,” the United States international told Palace TV. “I think it was a game of ups and downs.
“In the first-half we were riding that wave. After the goal I think we did well until probably the last 10 or 15 minutes. We wanted to get to half-time with the 1-0.
“The second-half started off a bit hectic, and the red card happened. They got a lot of momentum.
“But honestly I think we ended the game pretty well. That’s pretty much how the cookie crumbled today.
“Overall, they’re still a good side and I think we can take a lot of positives from the game. At this point, we’ve got to keep looking forward.
“We still have a lot of big games coming up this season, so I don’t think we should let ourselves get too down after a result like today.”
The good thing is we have another game in four days at this point
—Chris Richards
Richards contrasted the circumstances surrounding Palace’s performance to that of United, noting that the Eagles could draw some pride from their display: “We spoke about it in the changing room after the game: United have almost 15 games less than we did this year and we went toe to toe with them for 90 plus.
“They’ve had almost all week to prepare for a game like this – they’ve had a six-day run-up.
“The good thing is we have another game in four days at this point, so we brush it off and have to go toe-to-toe with a good Tottenham side and hopefully to continue to climb up the ladder.
“Regardless, we still have a lot to play for this season and we’re just going to keep looking forward.”