BY ALEX PEWTER
A match-winning brace from Ismaila Sarr led Crystal Palace to a 3-1 victory on Sunday over rivals Brighton after Trevoh Chalobah had given the visitors an unexpected lead.
Sarr, a direct and explosive threat, has benefited from an extended run of starting in the team and is now second only to Jean-Philippe Mateta in the goalscoring charts this season.
After the game, Oliver Glasner spoke highly of his Senegalese attacker and his performance.
“Obviously, you have to understand the situation where he wasn’t allowed to train with his former team during pre-season,” said Glasner. “He trained individually and then arrived 10 days before the Premier League started without four months of team training and any games or minutes in pre-season with us.
“With a new team and a new way of playing, it took time for him to get fit, understand how we wanted to play and see where he could use and show his strengths. He got used to this and today he got the reward, which was the two goals. He could have had another assist with the disallowed goal from Danny Munoz. That was a good performance.”
Occupying the spot vacated by Michael Olise and wearing the same shirt number leads to some comparisons, even though both are very different players stylistically.
“Yes, he’s different,” said Glasner. “We knew we couldn’t replace Michael one-for-one because he’s his own profile and has his own qualities. Ismaila is more direct. He has a lot of pace, and we knew that when we can get him into the right areas and at the right moment, he will get the chances and start scoring goals.
“I don’t think it was his best performance, as he’s had fantastic performances in other games. He had always had a positive impact at the start of the season as a substitute. He could have six or seven assists as well. Sometimes we missed those chances, or today, the goal was disallowed.
“He’s getting better. But it’s also not a time for him to relax, but it shows why we signed him, and he gets all the credit.”
The 26-year-old has now taken his season tally to three goals and two direct assists. With several players now on the bench and looking for a route into the team, Sarr is cementing his place to the right of Mateta with recent performances.
PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD
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