Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira called his side’s defeat by Fulham at Selhurst Park “one of his worst days” in charge of the club.

Tyrick Mitchell was shown a red card for a foul on Kenny Tete just three minutes after his side went behind, and James Tomkins followed him before the hour.

“It was one of the worst days since I’ve been at the club, not just because we lost the game. It was the way we did it, without competing,” Vieira told BBC Match of the Day.

“Fulham prepared their game really well and we weren’t brave enough to play forward. I believe we had the best chance before they scored their goal, but we didn’t do enough to deserve something from the game.

“We have to give them credit, analyse ourselves and try to bounce back as soon as possible.”

Dominant throughout, Marco Silva’s side were helped by Palace’s indiscipline, which put a stop to their hopes of a fourth straight home win.

The result strengthens the visitors’ unlikely European push, as they sit in eighth, just two points off the top six.

Heading towards the half-hour mark, Palace, having struggled to impose themselves early on, almost took the lead.

Clever play by Michael Olise freed Jordan Ayew inside the area, but his effort crashed off the bar.

Fulham made them pay moments later when Decordova-Reid headed the visitors into a deserved lead as Mitrovic pounced on slack play from Joachim Andersen before finding his team-mate with a pinpoint cross.

The hosts’ misery was compounded further when Mitchell was dismissed after Tete reached a loose ball first and was caught by the Palace man.

Any chance of a quick Palace resurgence were quashed 12 minutes after the break. Tomkins, on a booking, appeared to elbow Mitrovic off the ball, resulting in the game’s second red card.

Ream then reacted quickly to Mitrovic’s knock-down from a corner to double Fulham’s lead on 71 minutes.

Referee Andy Madley checked the VAR monitor for a potential handball against the Serb, only to stick with his original decision, before Mitrovic made it three 10 minutes from time.

Palace punished after losing cool

The two red cards were undoubtedly the moments on which this game turned. Mitchell’s challenge on Tete came just three minutes after Decordova-Reid’s opener, and Tomkins’ moment of madness forced them into damage control.

But even with 11 men, they didn’t do nearly enough to win the game or even avoid defeat, marking a disappointing return to Premier League action after the World Cup.

Vieira named an attacking line-up but that intent was never transformed into a coherent performance as they were roundly beaten.

Festive cheer as Fulham march on

Fulham’s past two Premier League campaigns have ended in relegation to the Championship, but fears of a third drop are disappearing at a rapid rate, as they look well at home at this level.

It is now 22 points from 16 games under Silva this term, just six fewer than they got in the entirety of their last Premier League campaign two years ago.

The manner in which they dominated the ball and made possession count was hugely impressive, and with Mitrovic grabbing his 10th goal of the season, they have a striker in the sort of form to make them dream of a European place, or even more than that.

Mitrovic insists his side didn’t rely on the red cards to get a comprehensive three points.

“We played against a good side, of course they had two red cards,” he said. “Even before the first, we dominated and scored the goal. The second red card made it easy but we played really well all over the pitch.

“We tried to put more pressure on them. We had to manage their intensity, then the second goal made it even more easy. I’ll take one goal and two assists all day, but the most important thing was the three points.”

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