EFL Cup

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EFL Cup | Third Round

Nov 9, 2022 at 7.45pm UK

St. James' Park

Newcastle
0 - 0
Crystal Palace

Anderson (39')

Milivojevic (42'), Hughes (90+2')

Newcastle win 3-2 on penalties

Patrick Vieira: 'Crystal Palace must improve in final third'

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 08 November 2022

Vieira: 'Palace must improve in final third'

Head coach Patrick Vieira calls on his Crystal Palace side to improve in the final third having now moved into the top half of the Premier League standings.

Patrick Vieira has suggested that Crystal Palace cannot expect to move any higher in the Premier League table unless they improve in the final third.

On Sunday afternoon, the Eagles recorded their fifth victory of the season as they came from behind to earn a 2-1 win at West Ham United, the decisive goal coming in added-on time.

That success represented the fourth time that Palace have overturned a deficit this season, while it subsequently moved the club into 10th position in the table.

Palace now sit just two points adrift of sixth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion, despite possessing the joint-seventh worst attacking record in the division.

Ahead of Wednesday's EFL Cup third round tie at Newcastle United, Vieira acknowledged that he wants to see more of a ruthless streak from his forward players.

Speaking to reporters, Vieira said: "I am really pleased with the performance against West Ham. We played some really good football at times and it was a well-deserved win.

Crystal Palace attacker Michael Olise celebrates scoring against West Ham United on November 6, 2022 © Reuters

"The performance always gives you more chance of winning football matches, but at the same time there is still other parts of the game that we need to improve.

"Before we got the goal, we created chances and got in positions but we hadn't scored. When you are in a good period in the game you need to take those chances and this is something we have to improve.

"All the games we played away from home, outside the Everton one [a 3-0 defeat], we competed. It was just a question of time. I always believed we were going the right way."

Wilfried Zaha has contributed six of Palace's 15 goals in the top flight this campaign, with a further three efforts coming from Odsonne Edouard.

Five of the other six efforts have been shared between Eberechi Eze, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Joachim Andersen and Michael Olise, who netted the winner at the London Stadium last weekend.

While Palace have netted at least twice in five of their 13 league fixtures during 2022-23, they have also failed to score on four occasions.