Eagles winning against big teams on big stages

Opinion

Last April, just four days after a 5-2 dusting by Manchester City, Crystal Palace was whipped 5-0 away to Newcastle.

It was a “demolition,” The Guardian declared at the time — a beatdown so thorough that “the description ‘shock and awe’ (did) not really do it justice.”

Speaking to reporters post-match, Eagles manager Oliver Glasner conceded his side hadn’t been good enough to offer “competitive opposition” at St. James’ Park. “It was a game where nothing worked,” he said. “Sometimes you have games and it’s better to throw them into the bin, and this is what we will do.”

It’s exactly what they did.

Three days later, Glasner deployed the exact same defensive unit and made just a single change to his lineup at home to Bournemouth. A scoreless draw stopped the bleeding, and the clean sheet was all the more impressive given Chris Richards’ red card at the end of the first half.

A 2-2 draw with Arsenal followed, and then Palace beat Aston Villa in their FA Cup semifinal. In the final, the South London outfit toppled City to win its first major trophy. It concluded an unbeaten run to the end of the season by battling champion Liverpool to a 1-1 draw.

That trouncing by Newcastle was almost six months ago. Crystal Palace hasn’t lost since.

Count ’em up. Between the Premier League (12), FA Cup (2), Carabao Cup (1), Community Shield (1) and, most recently, the UEFA Conference League (3), the Eagles have gone 19 matches undefeated.

It’s the longest such streak among the continent’s “Big Five” leagues and the 96 mostly familiar clubs that play in them. And it’s not even close.

Barcelona’s run was about to enter double digits when it was undone by Gonçalo Ramos’s late winner for Paris Saint-Germain in Wednesday’s Champions League clash. Bayern Munich’s is now the next-best at nine matches, and Borussia Dortmund’s is at eight. Juventus and Elche (a story for another time) have gone seven games without losing, and at six is the English trio of City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

What’s more, those 19 matches include results against big teams in big moments and on big stages.

There was the Wembley triumph in the FA Cup final, of course, and then another Wembley win over Liverpool in the Community Shield. In August, Palace narrowly shaded Norway’s Fredrikstad in the Conference, and on Thursday goals from Daniel Muñoz and Eddie Nketiah propelled it past Dynamo Kyiv in the same competition.

The likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham have been folded into those 19 matches, and last weekend Nketiah’s goal in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time delivered yet another win over Liverpool.

How have they done it?

Reds’ boss Arne Slot provided some insight after his side failed to beat them at the third time of asking.

“Palace have a few threats,” he remarked in his press conference following the 2-1 loss at Selhurst Park. “Set pieces are one of them, but counter-attack and balls in behind are number two and three.”

In some ways, Crystal Palace resembles Diego Simeone’s teams at Atletico Madrid. Advanced metrics can’t properly capture its performances because Glasner, like Simeone, relies on guerilla tactics to surprise and demoralize the opposition.

There’s also the simple fact that Palace have good players in every phase.

Dean Henderson? A widely-respected goalkeeper who could easily be England’s No. 1. Marc Guéhi? One of the top three or four defenders in the country. Tyrick Mitchell? The Premier League’s top-tackling wing-back.

Adam Wharton? A true blue-chipper who happens to be one of the top flight’s best dribbling midfielders. Ismaïla Sarr? A versatile playmaker with nearly a goal per game. Jean-Philippe Mateta? A towering striker who just earned his first France call-up.

Yes, Glasner has done well to get the best out of each of them, but it’s the element of selflessness he’s instilled throughout the squad that is truly impressive.

Not only has every player bought into his system and made sacrifices for the whole, but they’ve also somehow compensated for the losses of superstars Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze. Nketiah and Sarr were brought in to help replace Olise by committee; Yéremy Pino arrived in August to make up for Eze’s move to Arsenal.

All that said, the Eagles have run large transfer surpluses in recent years. It means the club isn’t actually investing in the squad, and a cloud of uncertainty has settled over Selhurst Park as a result. At some point, the number of incoming players won’t be able to keep up with the quality of departures.

Impressively, Palace was able to keep Guehi through the summer, though his contract will expire in June. Glasner, too, is out of contract at season’s end, and as one of Europe’s most in-demand managers he’s so far resisted a new one.

Given that its unbeaten start to the 2025-26 campaign has it third in the Premier League — and by virtue of the fact that only Liverpool, Arsenal and City have collected more points this calendar year — Palace can reasonably anticipate a European platform next term as well. But to stabilize the squad and its coaching staff, Champions League qualification is likely required.

That’s a big ask. It’s also, if one were to get a candid response, what they’re targeting in South London. Just don’t expect them to mention it. And don’t expect Glasner to look much beyond the next assignment — Everton, in this case (Sunday, 8 a.m. CT, FuboTV). Oh, and he won’t be discussing a possible 20-match streak, either.

“I don’t think about this run, because this already happened,” he explained to The Guardian after the Dynamo win. “For me, it’s important what comes next.”

But might he look back to that disastrous afternoon in Newcastle? Here’s guessing he probably does.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

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