Patrick Vieira’s brutal assessment of his Crystal Palace players after disappointing draw against Burnley

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira says his side paid for a lacklustre performance against Burnley at Selhurst.

The Eagles made a bright start to the game with Jeffrey Sclupp flicking home Michael Olise’s inviting cross to give the home side all the lead.

From there, Palace dominated the first half and should have scored a second goal, but they would soon pay for their lack of efficiency with Eagles captain Luka Milivojevic turning Aaron Lennon’s driven cross into his own goal.

After the game Patrick Vieira said that his side will have to play better if they are to go up the table and put more points on board.

The Crystal Palace manager said: “I think we started the game and we scored that first goal and I think we overall didn’t play really well.

“We didn’t play well because they put us under pressure. I think we couldn’t play well because they worked hard to close us down. We didn’t move the ball quick enough.

“I believe at times we played their game meaning we played too many long balls. We didn’t make good decisions today.

“But I think we didn’t make the decision because they made it very difficult for us. So at the end of the first half, scoring the first goal, we knew there would be more balls in our 18-yard box in the second half.

“We tried to close them down but we couldn’t stop those long balls and the only time that we had a space in our back four, Lennon managed to make that run.

“On that goal that we conceded we were unlucky because we were well-positioned inside the box. I think we were really close, really tight on every Burnley player and unfortunately for us, we scored an own goal.”

The draw leaves Palace safely in 11th on the league table while Burnley move to 18th just a point behind Everton but having played less games.

For Crystal Palace, there is little time to lick their wounds as they will have to host Championship side Stoke City in the FA Cup on Tuesday night.

If they win that one they will just be one win away from a game in Wembley which will crown a successful first season for Vieira.