Crystal Palace marked Oliver Glasner’s first game in charge with a bang, winning 3-0 at Selhurst Park against Burnley on Saturday afternoon.
Crystal Palace recorded a dominating win over Burnley to commence the work of Oliver Glasner in South London.
The Eagles looked threatening throughout the course of 90 minutes against Vincent Kompany’s side, who were forced to play with 10 men for 55 minutes after Josh Brownhill was dismissed.
It was wave after wave of attacking prowess from the hosts, who climbed up to 13th after the much-needed win.
How Crystal Palace beat Burnley
The first goal scored with Oliver Glasner on the touchline came from an unlikely source, as Chris Richards netted his first for the club to give the Eagles the lead in the second half.
After breaking the deadlock, the goals began to flow as Jordan Ayew turned from creator to scorer to net the hosts second and record his second goal contribution of the game.
10 minutes before time, Jean-Philippe Mateta extended Palace’s lead to three to round off an impressive attacking display at Selhurst Park.
While the red card eased the Eagles’ pressure in trying to make a breakthrough, it was argued that Glasner’s side were lucky to not go down to 10 men, as Adam Wharton played with fire in a risky duel.
How Adam Wharton performed against Burnley
Aside from being fortunate to stay on the pitch, Wharton was electrifying against Burnley, showing that the club may have secured a bargain in signing the £22.5m midfielder.
Compared to his prior performances for Palace, the 20-year-old was a highly influential attacking presence in the midfield, suggesting just how much Glasner could get out of the Englishman.
As per Sofascore, the former Blackburn Rovers ace recorded 49 touches, three key passes and a 90% passing accuracy rate against Burnley, his highest rate of successful passes since moving to Palace.
What stood out most in the January signing’s performance was how he asserted himself in the final third in Glasner’s set-up, recording 0.33 expected assists, with his previous high in that statistic being just 0.09.
Previously lauded as “dynamic” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, Wharton has shown early signs of just how influential his creative side could be under the new manager’s regime, in an encouraging display in the middle.
It’s notable that when the Eagles are without the likes of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, the potency of the playmaking suffers, however, Wharton’s performance against Burnley suggests that he could be the man to stand alongside the duo as one of Glasner’s creative assets.
