Palace’s start to the WSL season paints a grim picture. Two defeats, 11 goals conceded and no goals scored.
But that is not the full picture.
In both defeats by Tottenham and Chelsea, Laura Kaminski’s side have performed well in the first half, testing their opponents before falling away after the break.
“These nights are tough,” said Kaminski. “We’ve had back-to-back games against what you could say is world-class opposition.
“It’s about as tough as it gets for a start for a club who have just come up [from the second tier]. But I am not making any excuses.
“We must be better after half-time, it’s as simple as that.”
If Chelsea are a work in progress to become multiple trophy winners again under Bompastor, Palace are doing the same to become a WSL team.
Kaminski said these defeats are tests they need to endure in order to improve.
“We created some good chances and caused them some trouble,” she added. “To do that against a world-class side shows a lot of promise and potential.
“We’re still finding our way and these [first two games] don’t define our season. These are the opportunities we need to improve.
“The players are disappointed we dropped points but these are the harsh learnings we need to go through to get better and get those points on the table.”
It was a first WSL game at Selhurst Park for Palace and more than 5,000 were in attendance.
After witnessing a 7-0 thrashing, they could be excused for showing their frustration but there was little of that.
Instead, fans chanted “Eagles” late on and stayed to applaud Kaminski’s players off the pitch.
“The fans deserve some credit for the reaction to the way we have started this journey,” added Kaminski. “They have an understanding of the level and what this group is trying to achieve.
“Not many teams just promoted have back-to-back London derbies to start with but there are no calm games. Every game is really, really important to us.
“I do feel like the fans have stuck by us though, and they understand the mammoth task that is in front of us.”