Gary Cahill critical of Crystal Palace’s defending in Everton defeat
BY SAM SMITH
Gary Cahill expressed his disappointment at the goals Crystal Palace conceded in their 3-1 defeat at Everton.
Bernard was allowed unmarked to fire the Toffees into the lead in the first half.
Cahill then failed to sufficiently challenge Richarlison, who swept the hosts ahead after Christian Benteke had equalised.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin tapped in a late third when Palace failed to react quickly enough at a set piece.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin tapped in a late third when Palace failed to react quickly enough at a set piece.
“I did think the scoreline flattered them but, having said that, defensively the goals were disappointing, the goals were sloppy and we’re not normally like that,” said Cahill.
“That was not good enough defensively for a couple of incidents. I was disappointed in the second one. Such is life. We have to keep going and push on.”
Palace are yet to win in 2020. Their last three points came in the Boxing Day 2-1 victory against West Ham. But Cahill thinks performances have been okay.
He said: “We felt that last week [in the 1-0 defeat against Sheffield United] we played very well and didn’t get the result. This week we were well in the game and we lost again.
“We need to take this period now, we need to rest up and we need to come back fighting for the last part of the season.
“We have to work together to change it. We know we’ve got enough in there, we’ve played well enough this season to know that we can kick on in the league.
“We had decent results against Arsenal and [Manchester] City and then the last three have been very disappointing.
“We need to switch back on to winning ways and recharge mentally and physically to come back stronger.”
PICTURE BY SEAN GOSLING
Palace has no offense. Cahill has been a stalwart on defense. I believe that he is playing injured. For him to insinuate that the defense is breaking down is really a bad sign for the long range stability of a struggling squad. Roy has to step it up or he has to go.