Wednesday night saw Crystal Palace suffer a 1-0 defeat away from home to Eddie Howe's resurgent Newcastle United side.
The crunch affair between the Eagles and the Magpies was always going to be tight, with a win for either side granting them a ticket to safety in the form of the magic 40-points mark.
Whilst the possession rankings were even in the first half, Howe's side were in complete control after accumulating a total of ten shots to Palace's one.
Though the second half was a different story, with Vieira's side maintaining 78% possession with nine shots to Newcastle's three.
But this was not enough to test Martin Dubravka between the Newcastle sticks, with Patrick Vieira looking for his side to start games better, having said this in his post-match press conference:
"We responded well in the second half. We entered and wanted to compete and we need to it from the first half an hour, the first minute. We have to compete better. The way we entered the game gave them confidence and belief."
Vieira's side were certainly poor early on and although Michael Olise received negative ratings for his efforts, despite being withdrawn after 40 minutes, there was one player had a nightmare on the pitch, with Howe's side completely sealing him out of the game.
With just five duels won from 14, resulting in a loss of 64% of duels, as well as two off-target shots with 0% shot accuracy - It's fair to say that Wilfried Zaha "embarrassed" in Wednesday night's fixture.
The 29-year-old Ivorian lost possession 17 times, and was often not afforded time or space to progress the ball, with just one dribble attempt at 0% success.
But when he was presented with a chance to beat his man, the £130k-per-week player wasted them, before firing off a wayward shot which was the exact scenario in the first half, when Edouard teed up the winger.
It was a game to forget for Zaha, and for Crystal Palace with Vieira surely looking to bounce back after what is now three consecutive losses in all competitions.