OLIVER Glasner felt the officials got a number of decisions wrong in Crystal Palace’s 3-1 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday – but refused to blame them as he said only the Eagles can turn around their current form.
Estevao Willian in the first half andJoao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez in the second give Liam Rosenior’s side a 3-0 lead at Selhurst Park.
Chris Richards headed a consolation two minutes from time.
Palace midfielder Adam Wharton was sent off in the 72nd minute after picking up two yellow cards in six minutes.
Glasner felt Moises Caicedo committed two similar four but was only booked once and that Pedro Neto got away with a stamp on Ismaila Sarr.
There was a long VAR review after the ball hit Eagles defender Jaydee Canvot on the leg before bouncing off his arm. Fernandez scored the resulting penalty.
It was an eighth Premier League game without a win, six of them defeats.
“I could now easily blame the referee for a few decisions,” Glasner said. ”I think, yes, Caicedo had two fouls in the first half, he just conceded one yellow, Adam had two fouls, he conceded two.
“I’ve watched back the penalty, it was first on Jaydee’s hip. We were briefed before the season, if the ball touches the body first and then goes to the hand, it’s no handball. I’ve seen that Pedro Neto stamped on Ismaila Sarr. It should have been a red card.
“But, to be honest, for me, it feels wrong to blame the referee for our defeat because the referee won’t help us in the future and it’s good that he’s neutral. The only [ones] who can help us is us. That’s why I think it’s important to talk about this.
“It’s now to support [Canvot] and lift him, and that’s what we will do.”
Glasner feels Palace are making too many mistakes and not taking their chances in front of goal. But he was pleased with how his side reacted to being 3-0 and a man down.
“I think we played a really good first half,” Glasner said. “It’s just right now, [we’re missing] the most important part in football: to be ruthless and take your chances and, on the other side, don’t make mistakes and give the opposition easy chances.
“That’s what we are doing right now. Then we are one goal down and we make the second mistake, or just one or two or three mistakes in a row, and after 49 minutes, you are 2-0 down, when you feel you’ve played good football and you are in the game.
“Then you can see that the nerves are not really strong right now. It’s completely normal, but on the other side what I was really pleased with, and what gives me a lot of confidence for the next weeks, is the reaction after being 3-0 down and conceding a red card. It can easily happen that you lose 5 or 6-0. I think all of us have seen this in football.
“But the players really were in the game, made pressure, created chances, scored a goal. Everybody had the feeling, when the 90th minute came, if we score now another one, it could be a draw.
“This reaction from the players gives me a lot of confidence, because I have seen many good things, but it’s pretty clear we have to reduce the mistakes that lead to goals and yes, we have to be more ruthless in taking our chances.”
Palace haven’t won in eleven games in all competitions, their worst run since March 2023.
Glasner said: “Confidence is what you get from results. It is my job, my responsibility, with my staff, my group, to get this confidence back. I saw a lot of positives but when you are losing 3-1 and have not won for eleven games then it’s completely right to say, ‘where are the results?’
“That’s what we have to get. It is up to us to find these puzzle pieces. There’s no magician. I always believe in this group, these players, that we will turn it around.”
Palace travel to the City Ground to play Nottingham Forest on Sunday (3pm).
