Patrick Vieira praises Jack Butland after Crystal Palace earn draw at Brighton
Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira sang the praises of goalkeeper Jack Butland after his side earned a 1-1 draw at rivals Brighton.
Palace were second best for much of the evening at the Amex Stadium but remained in the contest thanks to a string of fine saves from Butland, including from Pascal Grossâ first-half penalty.
The second-best Eagles looked set to escape Sussex with all three points for the third successive season following Conor Gallagherâs 69th-minute strike before a late Joachim Andersen own goal levelled matters.
Butland was making only his fourth Premier League appearance since arriving at Selhurst Park from Stoke in October 2020 and showed glimpses of the form which brought England recognition earlier in his career.
âJack is a real professional, he is a positive professional,â said Vieira.
âHe has been frustrated not playing but he never complained, he never showed it, he always kept working hard and when forwards want to do finishing (in training) heâs always the first to put his hand up and he is a really good character in the dressing room.
âToday I am really pleased that he had that game, that performance because all the work heâs been doing the last couple of months, couple of years paid today.
âIt was good for us that he was at his best today.â
Some performance from Jack Butland đ#CPFC | #BHACRY pic.twitter.com/lv8z91w8io
â Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) January 14, 2022
Butland superbly kept out Leandro Trossard inside 10 minutes and then repelled Grossâ tame spot-kick during a crazy two-minute spell.
VAR was at the heart of the drama, assisting referee Robert Jones in awarding the penalty following Will Hughesâ adjudged foul on Joel Veltman, before helping rule out Neal Maupayâs strike for a foul on Palaceâs keeper moments later.
Butland, who was at fault for a goal when Palace beat Millwall in the FA Cup last weekend, also superbly denied Seagulls midfielder Jakub Moder.
âI think it is a good draw, it is a point I am happy with,â added Vieira.
âBoth teams had their own half but going back home with a draw is good for us.
â¤ď¸đ#CPFC | #BHACRY pic.twitter.com/ZjpSbb01YS
â Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) January 14, 2022
âYou just have to give credit to Brighton with the way they played.
âWe knew they were a team that are really comfortable on the ball and we have to accept that we needed to defend well and I think we did it at times.â
Dominant Brighton also hit the crossbar through Poland international Moder before being sucker-punched by Gallagherâs seventh goal of the season.
Having somehow contrived to lose this fixture 2-1 last season, the hosts looked set for another galling defeat until Maupayâs low cross forced a mistake from Andersen three minutes from time.
The entertaining south coast stalemate moved Albion to eighth on goal difference, three places and four points above their opponents.
Seagulls head coach Graham Potter was left with mixed emotions.
âThey (the players) will be disappointed because we havenât won the game,â he said.
âAs you can tell from our performance, they gave everything in the game, they played with real intensity, real positivity, the first half especially we were really dominant and, if weâre honest, we should have gone in a goal ahead to reflect that dominance.
âBut again, the performance was brilliant, I really liked it, I really liked everything they did.