Ghana International midfielder Jeffrey Schlupp says it was important for Crystal Palace to put in a good performance against Norwich on Tuesday after they were “outplayed” by a strong Spurs team on Boxing Day.
A depleted Eagles side, who had reportedly tried to get their game against the Lilywhites on Sunday called off due to several positive Covid cases, were soundly beaten 3-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thanks to goals from Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min.
The team didn’t have long to dwell on the defeat though, as 48 hours later they were lining up at Selhurst Park to take on basement side Norwich City.
That game provided the perfect antidote to Sunday’s defeat, as Palace ran riot in the first 45 minutes and cruised into a 3-0 lead that they kept hold of until the final whistle.
Schlupp scored the third of Palace’s three goals – his second of the season so far – and said it was important that the Eagles did their best to put the disappointment of the Spurs game out of their minds.
“[Spurs] was a disappointing result – we got outplayed against a good side,” said the 29-year-old. “We didn’t want to dwell on that for too long, and we had a game two days after that, and we managed to give that good result.”, Schlupp said as reported by football.london.
Palace had started their final match of 2021 slightly sluggishly, and neither they nor Norwich had much control of proceedings for the opening ten minutes.
All that changed however when Will Hughes was brought down in the box by Kenny McLean, with Odsonne Edouard stepping and coolly planting the subsequent penalty into the corner of Angus Gunn’s net.
The goal settled any nerves around the ground and on the pitch, and afterwards, Palace played with more confidence that allowed them to easily kick on and win the game comfortably.
“It’s always important to get that early goal against any team in this league – we know it’s going to be a tough game regardless of who you’re playing,” added Schlupp. “They’re obviously going through a difficult period, but we knew they were going to come here, fight, and look at this as an opportunity to maybe get some points.
“We managed to put on a professional performance and managed to pick up an important three points for us.”
Palace soon doubled their lead against the Canaries thanks to a rare goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta, making just his second start of the season following an opening day blank at Chelsea.
The Frenchman has been made to wait to get his chance on the pitch, but with injuries, illness and suspension he finally managed to make his mark on proceedings when called upon.
“I’m very happy for him – you could see by the way we celebrated with him,” said Schlupp. “Of course, he’s had to be patient and work hard on the training pitch, which he has done all season, and he managed to get an opportunity today, and he took that very well with his goal.”
