Oliver Glasner earned his corn on Sunday as some tactical adjustments helped Crystal Palace win a point against Chelsea.
The Austrian finally ended a dismal run of 13 consecutive league defeats for the Eagles in clashes against the Blues, as a wonderful strike from Eberechi Eze cancelled out Nicolas Jackson’s opener.
So, what did Oliver Glasner do to spark a Crystal Palace fightback against Chelsea? Let’s take a look…
What Oliver Glasner did to help Crystal Palace earn Chelsea draw
A story from the Daily Mail now states that the 50-year-old delved into video analysis to show his Crystal Palace players where they went wrong in the opening 45 minutes against Chelsea.
The Daily Mail then add that it was “unusual” to see such an improvement from the Eagles after this tactical session.
Whatever Glasner showed his Crystal Palace players specifically, it worked a treat.
As WhoScored shows, Crystal Palace took seven of their nine shots in the second period, with all five corners also coming in the second-half.
A tad fortunate
While Glasner is quite rightly receiving praise for some tactical tweaks, the most influential change – Cheick Doucoure replacing Will Hughes – came thanks to some good fortune.
In all honestly, Hughes should have been handed a second yellow card by Jarred Gillett after dragging Cole Palmer down in the 48th minute, which those on the Crystal Palace bench were clearly aware of as the 29-year-old was withdrawn just seconds later.
This lenience from Gillett allowed Doucoure to transform the game, with the £21m man making two successful tackles, one interception, one clearance, one dribble and zero fouls – while also taking the shot which led to Eze’s goal.
In contrast, Hughes committed three fouls, made only one tackle and one interception but no dribbles or clearances – as WhoScored shows.
In our view, Doucoure will now keep his place in the starting XI ahead of the Crystal Palace No.19 – if he is fully over his injury nightmare.
Having said that Crystal Palace were a tad fortunate, we do deserve some good luck after Sam Barrott’s disgraceful decision in the 2-1 defeat against Brentford, where he ruined a quite remarkable freekick from Eze by blowing his whistle too early, and incorrectly.
