Fabian Schar labelled Newcastle United’s performance as “unacceptable” after falling to a 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.

The Magpies headed to Selhurst Park on the back of a 10-day break after beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-0. However, a second-half brace from Jean-Philippe Mateta put an end to United’s four-match unbeaten.

It saw Eddie Howe’s side slip from sixth to seventh in the Premier League table after Manchester United got the better of Sheffield United, who visit St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 3pm).

“It was, from start to finish, not a good game, especially the first 25 minutes – it was not good,” Schar told NUFCTV. “They were on top and it is difficult when you are not on your best levels as a team. It was not acceptable the way we played today. As a team, we have to learn from it and be much better on Saturday.”

Palace broke the deadlock in the 56th minute when Jordan Ayew and Mateta linked up before the latter slotted the ball past Martin Dubravka.

Newcastle then had a penalty appeal turned down when Sean Longstaff went down under a challenge from Will Hughes. The incident went to VAR but the officials at Stockley Park stuck with referee Thomas Bramall’s original decision.

Schar revealed even Hughes thought it was a spot-kick but refused to use it as an excuse for the defeat.

He said: “Even their player thought it was a penalty, I think. What I saw was pretty clear and it would be a big moment in the game at 1-0.

“But we can’t blame that, overall it was not good enough. That could have changed the game but the rest of the game was just not the level we want to be.”

United now have five games remaining this campaign and know seventh place will likely be enough to secure European qualification for a second successive year.