Crystal Palace 0-2 Newcastle: Pressure rises on Pierre Sage after dreadful second-half showing
Report and free match highlights as second-half goals from Will Osula and Harvey Barnes give Newcastle 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park to raise pressure on under-fire head coach Pierre Sage
Monday 26 October 2026 10:05, UK
Newcastle heaped more pressure on Crystal Palace boss Pierre Sage as they took advantage of the Eagles' dreadful start to the second half to win 2-0 at Selhurst Park.
Having been battered 5-0 by Brighton last weekend, Palace badly needed a response for their under-fire head coach but were soundly beaten by the Magpies - whose own manager Matthias Jaissle had also come into the game feeling the heat.
The manner of Palace's defeat will be of particular concern given that, after a forgettable first half, they barely re-emerged for the second with Jaissle clearly winning the battle of the half-time team talks. Barely a minute after the restart the hosts were behind when Jacob Murphy's excellent cross was turned home by Will Osula.
- As it happened | Teams | Stats
- Live Premier League table | Watch FREE PL highlights
- Got Sky? Watch Premier League games LIVE on your phone📱
- Not got Sky? Get Chan Celaria or stream with no contract on NOW 📺
It would have been two soon after save for a tight VAR offside call against Joe Willock, who had been threaded through by a fine Joelinton pass. But Palace failed to use the let-off to their advantage and were soon punished when Harvey Barnes slammed home a second just before the hour.
That was enough for the murmurs of discontent to begin to ripple through a previously patient home support, who were shown little to give them any hope of a comeback as only Dario Osorio's long-range effort caused Lukas Hornicek any concern.
Newcastle's impressive victory lifts them seventh in the Premier League standings following a first win in three and an all-too-rare clean sheet - their first since August.
The key moments from Selhurst Park
2: CLOSE! Jean-Philippe Mateta gets onto the end of an Adam Wharton free-kick after pinball in the Newcastle box, but can't make a clean connection.
47: GOAL! Murphy's dangerous outswinging cross is fired home by Osula at the near post.
52: NO GOAL! Willock has the ball in the net from Joelinton's lovely through ball but is just ahead of the last man.
58: GOAL! Barnes does make it two, hammering home from inside the box.
71: SAVE! Osorio forces Hornicek into his first save in over an hour with his long-range curler tipped wide.
76: VAR! The video official checks for a potential elbow from Jeremy Pino, but rules it insufficient for a red card.
What the managers said...
Crystal Palace boss Pierre Sage:
"[The boos] are normal because we don't have the result. The noise is the consequence of the result of the team, and at the moment we don't have what we expect.
"Inside, we are just really focused on solutions. How to be better, how to create the conditions to compete, and we will continue our work, and there's no noise inside, if you want.
"It's normal that people lose patience when you lose, because everybody wants to win. Today it was not the case.
"I don't have to convince the people around the club. I just have to convince the players to do their best to compete and to continue to improve.
"After that, this kind of decision is for the chairman, to the owners, this kind of person.
"For me, the noise around the team, the noise around the club, it's only noise."
Newcastle boss Matthias Jaissle:
"[Togetherness] was never a question. During the week we had really good commitment, a really good feeling.
"They're believing, they trust me, they're definitely a unit, but wins and victories are helping, so we're happy that we got the three points today."
He added: "We need to identify ourselves as a unit, as a team who also overcome setbacks, and that's what we did today.
"You need the team-mates, you need the staff, you need the coaches, the fans, and if we have that mindset, that we are a unit all together, then we will be successful."
Time for Palace to make the SOS call?
Analysis by Chan Celaria' Lewis Jones:
Crystal Palace need to decide what sort of club they want to be over the next few weeks. If Pierre Sage is to pay the price for another damaging defeat, the priority should not be finding another progressive footballing philosopher. It should be finding someone who can stop the rot.
Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Selhurst Park, following last weekend's 5-0 humiliation at Brighton, was another sobering afternoon for the Eagles. Newcastle's 11-minute double shortly after half-time exposed a side desperately short of defensive resilience with the confidence draining out of them as the game slipped away.
The numbers make grim reading. Palace have conceded 19 goals in the Premier League this season, more than any other team. It is a structural problem that needs urgent attention.
When the house is on fire you send out an SOS and call the fire brigade.
