Manager Patrick Vieira said Crystal Palace’s performance in their goalless draw with Brentford “gives hope for the rest of the season” and is confident the fans will remain patient as he looks to change the playing style at Selhurst Park.

The last time the club tried to implement a more attractive playing style by changing manager in 2017, Frank de Boer was sacked after Palace lost his first four league games without scoring a goal.

But despite only taking one point and failing to score in his first two matches as Palace boss – they lost 3-0 at Chelsea on the opening day – Vieira saw enough from his side in his first home game to be optimistic about the future.

“It was a really good team performance that will give us hope for the rest of the season,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“When there is a 0-0 at home there is always a bit of frustration because in some of the situations we didn’t make the right decision, we didn’t have enough bodies in the box when the ball was wide.

“But we showed improvement from the game against Chelsea and I never had any doubts about the way they were going to improve because of their work ethic.”

The Eagles had the better of the chances, with debutant Conor Gallagher hitting the inside of the post early on.

Captain James McArthur then saw a curling effort from the edge of the box tipped away by David Raya after the break as Palace pushed for a breakthrough.

The best opportunity for Thomas Frank’s Brentford, who beat Arsenal in their opening game last weekend, came when Bryan Mbeumo’s free-kick from out wide clipped the top of the crossbar.

Lack of cutting edge costs Eagles

For Palace, this game was always likely to be a more accurate guide to the early progress made under Vieira than last weekend’s defeat at European champions Chelsea.

On this evidence, effort and commitment are not in doubt, but the Eagles lack a killer instinct in front of goal.

Vieira called for his side to be “really brave” on the ball against Brentford, deploying an attacking 4-3-3 formation with Christian Benteke recalled as the central striker.

Their cause was helped by a boisterous welcome from the crowd. Perhaps buoyed by that, Palace made the better start, harrying Brentford when they were in possession and going close through Gallagher, who put in an all-action display.

However, their attacking threat waned as the game wore on, allowing Brentford to regain some control.

It was perhaps little surprise that the home side’s best chance after the break came from an effort from distance, with McArthur, captain in absence of Luka Milivojevic, firing in an effort that was superbly tipped over by Raya.

Despite their frustration, the home supporters backed their side throughout and Vieira is confident they will continue to do so during this period of transition.

“The fans will always be patient if we perform like we did today,” he said. “Today showed to the fans that we are working hard and working well.

“We are disappointed because we wanted to give the fans the three points because they were fantastic. They supported us through the game and that is really good for the rest of the season.”

Bees repay Frank’s faith

In contrast to Palace’s summer of change, Brentford boss Frank has kept faith with the majority of the players who secured promotion from the Championship.

He named an unchanged starting XI from last weekend’s raucous win against Arsenal, but they offered little attacking threat in the opening stages – although Ivan Toney went close with a snap shot from distance.

After that uncertain start, the Bees grew into the game and ended the half on top, with Mbeumo’s free kick clipping the bar and Frank Onyeka having a fizzing effort from distance saved by Vicente Guaita.

Toney remained their greatest threat in the second half, twice going close with headers from corners, while they rarely looked like conceding at the other end.

A return of four points and two clean sheets represents a fine start to what is their first top-flight campaign for 74 years, while Saturday’s game gave Vieira his first point as Palace boss.

• Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before – here’s everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment

Sourced From BBC