adminCrystal Palace manager Pierre Sage has admitted that his side’s dramatic collapse against Manchester City was caused by a significant drop in energy, with the Frenchman openly expressing his frustration after the Eagles suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat at Selhurst Park.
Palace had moments of promise during the contest and created enough opportunities to make life difficult for Manchester City. However, Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland both scored twice as Enzo Maresca’s side eventually ran away with the game.
The result leaves Palace searching for their first Premier League point under Sage after consecutive defeats to Everton and Manchester City.
Palace collapse after staying in the game
Sage felt his team had competed well for around an hour and remained within touching distance of Manchester City.
However, everything changed after the substitutions, with the Palace boss admitting that the players introduced from the bench failed to provide the energy he expected.
“I think we were able to play 60 or 65 minutes staying in the game but when I made the substitutions, the energy of the team went down,” Sage explained after the match.
The manager made it clear that he was angry with what happened, although he refused to place all of the blame on the substitutes.
Sage accepted responsibility himself, insisting that the players and coaching staff must take responsibility together.
Tactical mistake proved costly
One of the biggest problems came immediately after Palace had pulled a goal back.
Yéremy Pino’s spectacular free-kick reduced the deficit to 2-1, giving the hosts renewed hope. But Manchester City responded almost immediately, with Cherki finding space and restoring the visitors’ two-goal advantage.
Sage identified that moment as a major turning point.
He admitted that Palace committed a tactical mistake by failing to close down the space between two players, allowing City to exploit the opening before Cherki finished clinically.
That goal effectively changed the momentum of the contest.
Cherki and Haaland punish Palace
Cherki was particularly influential for Manchester City, scoring twice in the space of five minutes during the second half.
His first goal was a superb individual effort, as he navigated his way through several Palace defenders before calmly finishing beyond Dean Henderson.
His second arrived shortly after Pino’s goal and came from a deflected effort that once again left Palace struggling to recover.
Haaland then completed the damage late in the match, scoring his second of the evening to make it 4-1.
Sage refuses to panic
Despite the disappointing result, Sage insisted that Palace are still in the process of adapting and developing under his management.
The Frenchman pointed to the club’s disrupted pre-season preparations and admitted that fatigue is currently affecting his squad.
He also stressed that Palace must learn to operate collectively rather than relying on individual players to change matches.
“We know we are in a process, we know we have to work,” Sage said, while acknowledging that the team deserved a better result.
For Palace supporters, however, the manager’s admission about the drop in energy will be a major concern.
The Eagles had shown enough attacking threat to believe they could compete with Manchester City, but their inability to maintain the same intensity ultimately proved costly.
With Palace now sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table, Sage faces the difficult task of quickly rebuilding confidence, improving the squad’s fitness and ensuring his players can maintain their performance levels for the full 90 minutes.
The defeat may have been painful, but Sage’s blunt assessment has made one thing clear: Palace’s problems against Manchester City were not simply down to individual mistakes. The manager believes the entire squad must improve its energy, tactical discipline and ability to respond when matches begin to turn against them.
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