By Paul Green at Selhurst Park
OLIVER Glasner felt Crystal Palace could take a lot of positives from Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City.
The Eagles began the game on the front foot and were unfortunate not to break the deadlock early on when Yeremy Pino burst through and hit the bar.
City took the lead against the run of play four minutes before the interval courtesy of goal machine Erling Haaland’s header.
Gianluigi Donnarumma got a vital hand to the ball before Jean-Philippe Mateta and then four minutes into the second period Adam Wharton saw a low angled drive graze the post.
Phil Foden’s 69th-minute effort and a last-minute penalty from Haaland sealed what in the end looked a comfortable City win, although the Eagles boss put that down to fine margins.
“For me the result doesn’t reflect the performance,” Glasner said. “We have to accept City were better in the boxes and they were more efficient than we were.
“They took their chances and we missed them. That’s why we lost the game.”
Asked if he was in any way frustrated by what had happened, the Selhurst chief replied: “No, completely the opposite. I think that was our fifth game against City since I’ve been here.
“We lost four and we won the cup final. I think this was by far the best performance we have had against them. It was the most competitive – it felt like this, but the result doesn’t show it.
“But we are always talking about our performances, of our progress and so many parts of the game I watched were excellent. We kept them to two finishes in the first half.
“One was a direct free-kick, then Haaland’s header and then we go 1-0 down.”
Glasner added: “It means the whole team must have defended really well, but not just defending around their own box but on the other side we were creating three or four big chances. That was excellent.
“But again if you want to win you need to take them in the right moments.
“I think this is what we are missing from the top teams in the Premier League, but It just shows the progress of the team.”
Palace went into the game chasing a third straight Premier League victory following back-to-back wins on the road at Burnley and Fulham.
And although they were ultimately unsuccessful in collecting another maximum return, the manager felt the display was actually better than what he had seen at Turf Moor and Craven Cottage.
Glasner said: “We are always talking about the performances and I think it was a better performance than our last two away wins at Burnley and Fulham.
“They were efficient [there] and today not. When you play the top teams in the world – not just in the Premier League but in the world – and you want to beat them, you need to be top in every single part of the game.
“I think in nine out of ten parts we were excellent, but in the most important one – finishing – we were not good enough and that is why we lost.”
The manager also confirmed Daichi Kamada faces an unwanted spell on the sidelines ahead of the hectic festive period after injury forced him off midway through the second half.
Glasner said: “It is the hamstring, so we have to assess him.
“He will have a scan [on Monday]. It was just an incident where he landed and overstretched his knee, which means the hamstring got the full stretch and extension.
“I expect we will miss him for a few weeks but I think he did very well.”
