Oliver Glasner hails set-piece preparation as Crystal Palace see off Brentford

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner believed getting on top of the “set-play battle” was key to his side earning victory against Brentford.

The Eagles had not won in their three previous games in the Premier League but Jean-Philippe Mateta’s eighth goal of the season set them on their way against the Bees, whose captain Nathan Collins put into his own net to give them breathing room.

It was then pretty comfortable for Palace as they saw off their fellow Carabao Cup quarter-finalists to rise to seventh in the table.

Glasner said: “We didn’t have a lot of time to train because we played Wednesday evening at Liverpool, coming home at three in the morning.

“Thursday was just recovery and yesterday we trained 25 minutes on the pitch then 15 minutes just defending throw-ins and attacking throw-ins because we knew it would be a topic today.

“Credit to my assistants who prepared all the clips and set up how we defended it, and also in attack so we could score from it.

“We spoke about how it could be a set-play battle and at the end I think we won the set-play battle because it’s why we could win the game, a very good, important win today.

“We use the minutes we are on the pitch more and more for set-plays, we’re always training it and I think it would be really stupid from us if we don’t train it.”

Palace were in front after 30 minutes when Daichi Kamada’s free-kick was nodded across by Jefferson Lerma and Mateta’s header was lofted perfectly into the top corner.

The Eagles were then gifted a second goal in the 52nd minute when Lerma’s long throw glanced off Collins’ head and drifted into his own net.

Brentford boss Keith Andrews said: “I thought it was a tight game, clearly a game where set-pieces were very, very prevalent in how the result went.

“In terms of our performance, did we reach the heights of recent weeks individually, collectively? No. But having said that, I felt like there wasn’t a lot in the game.

“Going into this game, you know Crystal Palace are going to be – last season was the same – pretty effective from set-pieces.

“You’ve got to earn the right against them in general play, you’ve got to earn the right at set-pieces, and clearly the first goal for us wasn’t one we’ll be happy with.

“[Losing] first contact, second contact, you can’t quite allow that against a team of that physical nature.

“No blame at all attached to Nathan [for the own goal]. Everything he’s done from the second I’ve been in the building as a set-piece coach and the head coach has been magnificent.”