Pierre Sage felt Crystal Palace deserved more than a point in their 2-2 Europa League draw at 10-man Besiktas and chalked up their failings to lapses in concentration.
It was nevertheless a markedly improved performance from Sunday, when Sage’s side suffered a humiliating 5-0 Premier League defeat at rivals Brighton.
Much of Thursday’s improvement had to do with Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was in Sage’s starting line-up for the first time since the opening day of the season and scored his first goal since the Conference League final winner in May.
A point in Istanbul 🤝 pic.twitter.com/6BiW49Se3L
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) October 22, 2026
“I am pleased (with the performance) but with the result a little bit frustrated for the lads,” Sage, who has been under pressure, told TNT.
“They gave a lot this evening and I think they deserve better, but we have a lack of concentration during one minute in the first half at the end, and it was the same thing when it was 2-1 for us.
“In this period, this kind of situation, you pay quickly for little mistakes, and we have to remember that the situation was worse before the game.
“The performance was worse on Sunday, and it’s a good step to go forward to win against Newcastle.”
The Eagles were the superior side before ex-Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi opened the scoring for the hosts in first-half stoppage time.
Yeremy Pino drew Palace level six minutes after the restart and Mateta – who had a first-half goal chalked off by VAR – fired them into the lead four minutes later.
Junior Olaitan netted a 73rd-minute equaliser and Palace could not complete a second comeback after Umit Akdag was sent off for a clumsy 77th-minute challenge on Jorgen Strand Larsen, who was subsequently forced off.
Mateta recently returned from the hamstring issue he sustained in August and played just under half an hour off the bench in the Brighton defeat.
His goal on Thursday night was a stylish finish into the roof of the net from an alert run to capitalise on a Besiktas mistake.
❤️💙 pic.twitter.com/NC96NTCprW
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) October 22, 2026
“I’m really happy for (Mateta),” said Sage. “He was in a good area at a good moment for him just before coming out, because he was not really ready to play.
“You see him tired but when you have this mindset, when you want to play every ball and you give your life on the pitch, sometimes it’s good for you.”
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