Charlie Grace

Mon 6 October 2025 9:30, UK

Crystal Palace’s club-record unbeaten streak came to an end in dramatic late fashion, losing 2-1 at Everton in the Premier League.

Adam Wharton was impressive as Crystal Palace fell to a late defeat, with Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye each netting in the last quarter of the game to give Everton the win.

Daniel Munoz opened the scoring for the visitors, with Alan Shearer blaming Jordan Pickford for Crystal Palace’s only goal of the match.

Grealish wowed Danny Murphy and showed Thomas Tuchel exactly what he’s missing as the Premier League pauses for the international break.

Oliver Glasner pinpoints what Crystal Palace are lacking

Crystal Palace could have been out of sight by halftime with numerous big chances being squandered by Oliver Glasner’s team.

As the game wore on, Palace looked to tire, with the effects of their midweek match against Dynamo Kyiv starting to show and potentially a reason for their eventual loss.

Speaking after the game, Glasner highlighted why his team aren’t a top side. The Austrian said: “We’re massively disappointed, it hurts, I saw 60 or 70 minutes of fantastic performance, but we didn’t take our chances when we were on top.

“That’s happened a few times now, and we’re 12 games into the season with only one defeat, but I think that [not being clinical] is the missing link for us to be a top team in the Premier League.”

Crystal Palace’s blistering start halted, and signs of fixture congestion start to show

Without a doubt, Crystal Palace’s tremendous start to the season has been one of the biggest highlights of the 2025-26 Premier League campaign.

The reigning FA Cup and FA Community Shield champions have continued their red-hot finish from last season and look imperious when they’re at their best.

But as the effects of travelling across Europe in the UEFA Conference League start to take hold, this Palace team are facing fixture congestion like they’ve never known before.

A four-hour trip up the M1 to play away in the FA or Carabao Cup on a Wednesday night is a world away from the four-hour flights the players are now undertaking when they travel to Poland on Thursday evenings.

Moreover, with the squad not arriving back in the UK until Friday after their Thursday night fixtures, Glasner has only a day and a half to prepare his side for their next Premier League game whilst also letting them recover after their European excursions.

To boot, Glasner doesn’t have a deep squad to call upon either, with fringe young talents like Romaine Esse and Justin Devenny likely to play big roles later in the season despite not showing they’re up to the required standards yet.

With a thin squad and an extra six games, at least, on the calendar, this season will throw up challenges that have never been faced before in South London, but if there’s a head coach who can deal with them, it’s Glasner.