Palace Round-Up, Sunday 25th October: Sage Under Serious Pressure After Another Home Defeat, Besiktas Up Next
It was a tough afternoon at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace went down 2-0 to Newcastle United, with Will Osula and Harvey Barnes both scoring in a one-sided second half (Sky Sports) (The Sun) (CPFC.co.uk) (CPFC.co.uk). ESPN had the game live from south London (ESPN), and CPFC.co.uk had all the build-up covered with the team news before kick-off (CPFC.co.uk).
The Guardian didn't hold back on the quality of the first 45 minutes, describing it as one of the worst halves of football the Premier League has seen, with a poor pass completion rate and barely a shot on target between the sides (The Guardian). Things then fell apart after the break, with Newcastle's quickfire double in the "early moments of the second half" proving decisive, as News Shopper put it (News Shopper) (The Guardian) (BBC Sport). The result means Palace's winless run has now stretched to four matches and leaves the club just a point outside the relegation zone (BBC Sport).
Unsurprisingly, the head coach was the centre of attention afterwards. Pierre Sage reflected on the defeat and reacted to the result in separate pieces on the club's official site (CPFC.co.uk) (CPFC.co.uk), while News Shopper reported on the message he gave his players at half time (News Shopper). The Guardian picked up on Sage pointing to a "missed 15 minutes" as the key moment of the game, with the Frenchman insisting he still believes he is the right man for the job despite admitting "every mistake that is bad will be a goal" (The Guardian). The Sun were equally blunt, saying Sage is now in "huge trouble" at Selhurst Park after Newcastle bounced back from their own run of defeats to win in the capital (The Sun).
The wider mood around the club is clearly shifting too. BBC Sport report that pressure is growing on Sage as supporters begin to turn on the head coach, who had the unenviable task of following Oliver Glasner into the role and is now under big scrutiny just four months in (BBC Sport). That frustration was summed up by one supporter, Ollie Thomas, who told BBC Sport that "whoever gets Thomas Frank will stay up" when calling for a change in the dugout (BBC Sport).
There was disappointment for the women's team too, as Palace were beaten 3-1 by Chelsea in the Women's Super League. Molly Bartrip had given Palace the lead, but Melvine Malard's double and a Sandy Baltimore goal turned the game around for Sonia Bompastor's side (Sky Sports) (BBC Sport). BBC Sport noted that Malard was the star of the show, also winning a penalty as Chelsea extended their unbeaten start to the season to seven matches (BBC Sport).
Attention now turns to Europe, with CPFC.co.uk previewing the upcoming away trip to face Besiktas (CPFC.co.uk). It's a timely distraction for Sage and his squad, who will be hoping a positive result on the continent can ease some of the growing tension building up around Selhurst Park.
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.