IN THE Battle of the Long Throws, Crystal Palace out-gunned Brentford at their own game – as Bees skipper Nathan Collins became the latest victim of the long-armed tactic.
It might not be pretty to watch but sticking it into the mixer has become very effective and very fashionable these days at the top of English football.
Brentford have been the most prolific Premier League side this season from throws into the opposition penalty area but they were given a taste of their own medicine by canny and accurate Palace.
Collins must have wished he could have been anywhere else other than Selhurst Park on 51 minutes when he accidentally scored an own goal from the NINTH long throw of the 95-minute match.
In total, there were 13 long throws – eight for Palace, five for Brentford – but besides Jean-Philippe Mateta’s excellent header on 30 minutes, it was an encounter that desperately lacked quality.
Palace, unbeaten in their SE25 postcode in the league since February, now have the same number of points (16) as Manchester City as they continue to outdo outside expectations.
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In a contest involving the two leading sides in relation to long throws, the first one came in the fourth minute and, what do you know, it ended up being a DUD!
Around the same juncture of the match against Liverpool last Saturday, Michael Kayode first launched the ball into the visitor’s end, causing chaos and confusion before Dango Ouattara volleyed in the Bees opener of a famous 3-2 win.
This time the Italian full-back pinged it over from the right touchline but a flag was immediately raised and he was penalised for a FOUL THROW.
After all that build-up and anticipation, the first one here proved to be illegal. How ironic.
Unsurprisingly, given the weapons that these two sides possess, the opening goal did come from a set-piece but it was actually via a free-kick, one that was fired into the Brentford area by Palace’s Yeremy Pino.
Jefferson Lerma, who came into the side for the sick Adam Wharton, met the delivery first and then Mateta sent a magnificent header looping into the goal with power and purpose.
Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher was rooted to his spot, though he may have struggled to get there even if he had been in a better position.
Mateta – whose earlier calls for a handball off a Brentford defender had been ignored – booted the corner flag as he always does to a crescendo of BOOMS from jubilant fans.
It was Mateta’s eighth goal for the South Londoners this campaign, his sixth in the Prem.
Under the guidance of Glasner, the Frenchman has scored 22 goals in 28 home Premier League starts – in that same time span, since February 2024, only Man City totem Erling Haaland (23) has had more home goals.
There were seven long throws in the first half – four for Palace, three for Brentford – and the last one was punched clear by Palace goalie Dean Henderson.
Mikkel Damsgaard, who retrieved that clearance, was cynically tripped inside the D by Japan midfielder Daichi Kamada but the Dane was far from great as he then skied the resultant free-kick.
Six minutes into the second half, Palace doubled their lead and yep, you guessed it, it, the origins of it lie in a long-throw strategy.
Lerma, 31, sent it over and Collins, seemingly under little pressure or stress, headed it backwards, which Kelleher could not reach, for a terrible own goal.
Palace’s PA announcer took great delight in winding up the Brentford fans with that one.
The minds of Brentford’s defenders were scrambled at this point and seconds later a sloppy pass from Collins was intercepted by Ismaila Sarr, and only the width of the post saved the captain’s blushes.
Palace No1 Henderson did not have much to do but when called upon, he did his job, notably saving well from substitute Reiss Nelson’s strike with 14 minutes left.
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Overall, Brentford were poor with all their deliveries from set-plays, which has been out of step with their impressive consistency under rookie manager Keith Andrews.
They face Newcastle United next weekend at the Gtech and following this showing, you can imagine they are going to be drilled hard by Andrews on the training ground.
