Sage encourages Palace 'to turn the page quickly' after Europa League loss

Pierre Sage has urged his Crystal Palace side "to turn the page quickly" after their Europa League defeat to his former club Lyon.

Palace lost 3-2 at Groupama Stadium after a poor first-half showing, which saw Corentin Tolisso and Ernest Nuamah give Lyon a 2-0 lead.

Yeremy Pino pulled a goal back for Palace before Pavel Sulc's instinctive finish restored Lyon's two-goal lead, rendering Daichi Kamada's 81st-minute strike a consolation.

Tolisso opened the scoring after Palace failed to clear their lines from a corner, something which has become a persistent problem for the Eagles.

Palace have shipped 35 set-piece goals in all competitions since the start of last season, a figure only two Premier League sides have exceeded (Chelsea on 37 and Newcastle United on 36).

However, with a clash against rivals Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday, Sage does not want Palace to dwell on the defeat.

"It was a game of two different halves," said Sage.

"We were absent in the first half. The second half is more like what we’re used to seeing.

"We can be frustrated with the result, but we can be frustrated with the first half. Going two goals down meant this was too difficult to turn around.

"We didn't fight enough, we didn't manage some of the tactical problems and we were not proactive with the ball. If we want to be competitive, we need to be better in these areas.

"We have to turn the page quickly and take the lesson. Now the most important game is the game in Brighton."

Brighton were also in action on Thursday, kicking off their Conference League campaign with a 4-0 win over Kauno Zalgiris.