Ghana’s Schlupp: 'Sloppy' Crystal Palace were punished by Burnley

Crystal Palace defender Jeffrey Schlupp has blamed the team’s “sloppy” display in the second half for the 1-1 Premier League draw against Burnley at Selhurst Park Stadium on Saturday.

The 29-year-old Ghana international put the Eagles ahead in the ninth minute after stretching to sneak home a cross from Michael Olise but in the 46th minute, Luka Milivojevic scored for the Clarets and helped them snatch a vital draw away.

Schlupp has explained what the Eagles should have done better to get maximum points from the fixture.

“We went 1-0 up in the first-half and started the second-half really sloppy. They scored the goal and I thought it was a bit of a scrappy game in the end and a well-earned point,” Schlupp told the club’s official website.

“I thought we started well. We started on the front foot, had a couple of half-chances, some good moments, and managed to get the goal we wanted. I think we probably needed to try and kill the game off in the first-half, to be honest.

“We had some good moments. In the second-half of course we had some good chances but I thought it was probably a bit of a 50/50 second-half and a draw was a fair result.

“We worked so hard for it in the first-half and to come out and start the second-half the way we did is not acceptable. We got punished straight away. We know what the Premier League is like and what Burnley are going to bring and they came up for it and it was a good battle in the end.”

Palace manager Patrick Vieira credited the visiting side for their fighting spirit that saw them snatch a point away.

“It was difficult. We knew how challenging that game was going to be, and we conceded the goal where we had a bit too much space in our back four and knew we needed to be compact. [In] that moment of a lack of concentration we conceded,” Vieira told the same portal.

“We knew how good they were in playing the long ball. We managed it quite well but in the end, we conceded that goal and that took the win away from us.”

Palace will shift their focus to the fifth round of the FA Cup when they host Stoke City on Tuesday before they travel to face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium on Saturday.