Pierre Sage has insisted Crystal Palace are united and focused on improvement after Newcastle United inflicted a 2-0 defeat at Selhurst Park.
The loss was Palace’s fifth in their opening eight Premier League matches, leaving them 17th in the table. They have also conceded 19 goals during that run, their second-highest total after eight top-flight games, behind only the 22 conceded in 1980-81.
Newcastle broke the deadlock two minutes into the second half when William Osula converted Jacob Murphy’s cross from the right. Joe Willock appeared to add a second shortly afterwards, but his effort was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.
Harvey Barnes did double the visitors’ advantage later in the match with a close-range finish. Palace pushed for a response in the closing stages, but Newcastle goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek denied Adam Wharton and Dario Osorio.
The result has increased the pressure on Sage, who acknowledged the frustration among Palace supporters while maintaining that the team remains concentrated on finding solutions. He said the boos were understandable given the lack of results, but described the wider reaction as noise rather than something affecting the club internally.
Palace will now look to respond after another difficult league result, with their defensive record and early-season form leaving them close to the bottom of the table.
