Patrick Vieira described Crystal Palace's first-half performance against Manchester City as 'perfect', but admitted his side simply couldn't cope with the Blues' comeback in the second half on Saturday.
Palace raced into a deserved 2-0 lead with two goals from set pieces, while they also caused City plenty of problems on the break, led by Ebereche Eze and Jordan Ayew. However, after half-time, City turned a poor performance into another brilliant comeback led by Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.
Vieira accepted that City's quality deserved to win the game, although he did offer some insight into how they managed to frustrate the Blues so well in the first half.
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"We're disappointed of course to concede four goals in the second half," Vieira said. "At the same time, our first half was a perfect one. We didn't give them space, we worked well, were disciplined, they didn't find a solution.
"We spent a lot of energy defending in the first half, in the second half we lost physicality, concentration, discipline. We can't do that against the players they have. The first goal was difficult to build momentum. They're an experienced team and manage these situations better. We did enough in the first half to get more from the game."
Asked whether it was a concentration issue that was key to letting that two-goal lead slip, Vieira pointed more to City's quality in forcing the comeback rather than anything drastic that changed on Palace's behalf.
He continued: "It's not just about concentration, it's the quality of the team we're facing. We can't drop those kind of concentrations and discipline because the players put the ball at the right place and time. The finishing they can score goals, they always create chances, we did it well in the first half and didn't give them the opportunity.
"In the second half we have to accept the quality they have to win the game. There's nothing more I can ask the players today.
"At half time the emphasis was to keep defending well, not give them space, we knew the quality of the players and how they can create something from nothing. When they raise the quality it was difficult to cope. We are disappointed because there was space to get something from the game because of the way we defended.
"In the second half we were late to put pressure on the ball, didn't defend the second ball and they sense it."
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