Patrick Vieira ‘frustrated’ by missed Crystal Palace chances in Arsenal defeat
Patrick Vieira was left frustrated by Crystal Palace’s missed opportunities in their opening day 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.
The Eagles missed two chances to pull level against the Gunners.
In the final few minutes of the first half, Odsonne Edouard had the opportunity to bring the scoreline to 1-1, but he was unable to steer his header from a Joachim Andersen knockback into the box past Aaron Ramsdale.
In the second half, Wilfried Zaha played a pass through the Arsenal defence for Eze, but the 24-year-old was caught in two minds when one-on-one with Ramsdale and placed his shot straight at the English keeper.
The South Londoners had more shots than their north London counterparts at Selhurst Park on Friday night.
Goals from Gabriel Martinelli and an own-goal from Marc Guehi gave Mikel Arteta’s side all three points.
“We dominated, but we didn’t create a lot of chances,” explained Vieira.
“The frustration is that we didn’t score that goal in the really important moments of the game. That is the biggest frustration I have tonight.
“We faced a really good side who were really strong, especially in the first 15 to 20 minutes, it was really tough for us to get close to them.
“But as the game went on and as we grew into the game, in football matches, there are some important moments where you have to take those chances, and we had some really good momentum.
“The history of the game is that we didn’t score that goal to get back into the game.
“We had good periods where we should score those goals, especially against a team like Arsenal.”
Palace’s pre-season preparations had been earmarked as a concern heading into the campaign, with half of the squad heading with Vieira to Singapore and Australia. In contrast, the other half stayed with assistant manager Osian Roberts in London.
When asked if the disjointed pre-season played a factor in the slow start at Selhurst Park, Vieira said: “It would be too easy for me to say that. We knew the challenge that we were going to face – we had a really good organisation about how we were going to get the players fit.
“When you look at the way we finished the game and played the second half, we were good physically.
“The organisation and tactically, there is still a lot to catch up on. But today, the biggest difference was that we didn’t take those chances that we created to get those points tonight.”
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