Glasner: We’ll go into the weekend with belief, courage & confidence
Oliver Glasner says a big positive of Crystal Palace’s impressive display against Arsenal at the Emirates is the momentum it gives his side heading into this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
The Eagles were the better side against the Premier League title-chasing team, creating more opportunities than their hosts – and scoring two outstanding goals, courtesy of Ebere Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta, to twice come from behind and claim a draw.
The manager told Palace TV: “I'm really proud of the players and how they performed today.
“Also, being 1-0 down – and in the last two away games we conceded 10 goals – and then playing here at Emirates against an Arsenal side who are in great shape, it's a tricky situation.
“But the reaction was great – it was unbelievable to be honest. We didn't lose anything of our courage, we didn't lose anything of our belief, and then we played forward. I think it was a really well-deserved draw, coming back twice.
“Especially the commitment in our defence, everybody was so disciplined and always going forward, creating chances, scoring two amazing goals. What Marc [Guéhi] said afterwards in the dressing room was: it feels like the two most difficult chances we scored. We had maybe easier ones to score!
“But it was a great performance, a great team performance again. It will help us, because I think it was the best performance for weeks now and this was important. We were talking about entering the semi-final with belief, with courage and with confidence – and this is what we can take from today.”
Glasner did however warn that Palace will need to actively demonstrate those credentials at the weekend, rather than assume they will repeat themselves off the back of the display.
He said: “We have to show the same focus, the same discipline, the same belief, the same confidence, and the same tactical discipline in and out of possession. We have to move the ball so quickly like we did today. We have to be focused in our set-plays, in attack and in defence, and this will be important.
“But of course, we need the talent, we need the quality of our players, we need the spirit, we need the tactical discipline, and of course we need our heart and our mind. I think especially for these two, this performance was very positive.
“We’re very excited and looking forward to this game. I think everyone who is connected with Palace is very excited, but I think on the other side, it's also important to stay calm. It's a football game, and we showed today that we are in good shape. This helps us – but we have to do it at the same level, because Aston Villa are in great shape as well.
“Don’t do something different. Rely on the things we did well over the whole season, rely on our togetherness, rely on our spirit, rely on the quality of every single player in the squad.
“This is what we will go for, not to overthink – not make it bigger than it is. I mentioned: the size of the pitch is the same, the grass will be green, we will start 11 against 11, there will be three referees on the pitch...
“It's a football game and we want to express ourselves. We want to show our identity and how we played in many games of the season – and then let's see what the result will be.”