Soccer Football - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Burnley - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - February 24, 2024 Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner before the match REUTERS/Peter Cziborra
LONDON (Reuters) -Crystal Palace gave new manager Oliver Glasner a dream start with a 3-0 win over 10-man Burnley on Saturday, which also eased their Premier League relegation worries.
Palace moved up to 14th on 28 points, eight clear of the relegation zone while Burnley remain second from bottom with 13 points.
After a scoreless first half dominated by Palace, during which Burnley were reduced to 10-men, the home side scored all three goals in an 11-minute period in the second half in Glasner's first game in charge.
Chris Richards broke the deadlock in the 68th minute with a header from a Jordan Ayew cross. Ayew doubled the lead three minutes later before Jean Mateta wrapped up the win from the penalty spot in the 79th minute.
Glasner, taking charge of his first game since replacing Roy Hodgson earlier this week, went with the same starting side which drew 1-1 at Everton on Monday.
A sunny Selhurst Park sounded rejuvenated before kickoff, the recent protests against the club hierarchy temporarily forgotten and "Glad All Over" sung with renewed enthusiasm.
It was all Palace in the opening half with Burnley unable to get a foot in the game, but for all their possession and attacking play, the home side could not break the deadlock.
Palace earned nine corners in the first half, but maintained their unenviable record of being the only Premier League side not to score from a corner kick all season.
Burnley keeper James Trafford made a decent save to parry away a close-range header from Odsonne Edouard in the 28th minute but seven minutes later his mistake led to the sending off of Josh Brownhill.
Trafford collected a back pass before playing a poor ball towards Brownhill just outside the area, but Jefferson Lerma pounced and when last man back Brownhill dragged him back, the red card was shown.
The expectant home crowd had to wait until the 68th minute for the opening goal.
Another Palace corner was headed clear before Ayew crossed from wide on the right and his perfectly floated ball sailed over everyone in the area before reaching the unmarked Richards who stooped to head past Trafford.
"I've wanted it (my first goal) all year," Richards said.
"Of course you always like to score goals but I think it was a very crucial goal in a very crucial game, so I'm very happy about it."
Ayew went from provider to scorer three minutes later when Matheus Franca played a ball across the face of the goal which Mateta could not reach but Ayew slid in at the back post to extend the lead.
Palace put the game out of Burnley's reach when Vitinho fouled Franca in the area and Mateta sent Trafford the wrong way to score from the penalty spot.
Burnley thought they had pulled one back late on when David Datro Fofana headed home but after a lengthy VAR check it was disallowed for offside and the home crowd's celebrations could really begin.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
