Crystal Palace 0-2 Swansea City: Tammy Abraham scores first Premier League goal before Jordan Ayew strikes to pile more pressure on Frank de Boer

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In the melting pot of pressure that is life as manager of Inter Milan, Frank de Boer lasted only 85 days at the start of last season.

By any measure, even with Inter 12th in Serie A by early November, it was a brutal culling for a man with football admirers dotted all around the globe.

Yet we are now 61 days into De Boer's new life as manager of Crystal Palace and some in south London may already be a little twitchy. 

Jordan Ayew (right) jumps for joy after scoring Swansea's second goal in their victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday 

Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham became Swansea's second youngest ever Premier League goalscorer when he struck

Ayew then doubled Swansea's tally for the game - and the Premier League season - by scoring early in the second half

It was another bad day for Palace manager Frank de Boer, who has now lost his first three Premier League games in charge

PLAYER RATINGS AND LIVE PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE

PALACE (3-4-2-1): Hennessey 4.5, Fosu-Mensah 5, Dann 5.5, Tomkins 5(Kelly 41), Ward 5.5, Milivojevic 5 (Cabaye 58), McArthur 5, Van Aanholt 4.5 (Lee 45), Townsend 6, Puncheon 5.5, Benteke 5.5

Subs not used: Speroni, Schlupp, Lokilo, Anderson

Bookings: Benteke (10), Ward (77), Cabaye (79), Puncheon (90+2) 

Manager: Frank De Boer 5

SWANSEA (3-4-2-1): Fabianski 6.5, Fernandez 6.5, van der Hoorn 7 (Routledge 70), Mawson 7, Naughton 7 (Rangel 88), Carroll 6.5, Fer 7, Olsson 6.5, Ayew 7.5, Clucas 7, Abraham 7.5 (McBurnie 78)

Subs not used: Narsingh, Nordfeldt, Roque, Fulton

Goals: Abraham (44), Ayew (48)

Booked: Fer (80)

Manager: Paul Clement 7

Referee: Andre Marriner 7

MOTM: Ayew 7.5 

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Tammy Abraham touched the ball 25 times in his 78-minute outing. As his heat map shows, he rarely ventured into his own half

Swansea's other goalscorer, Jordan Ayew, benefitted from a Kyle Naughton through pass to make it 2-0 on 48 minutes. For more stats and graphics check out Match Zone  

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Last weekend's more respectable defeat at Liverpool has now been followed by a failure that was altogether more comprehensive.

This was a return to the worrying form that saw Palace lose 3-0 at home to Huddersfield on the opening day.

De Boer now heads into the international break with much to consider. He admitted afterwards that respite is required and conceded that he shared the frustration of supporters who greeted his players with boos on the half-time and full-time whistle.

'We need some goals and points,' De Boer said. 'In the first half, we didn't show any courage on the ball. There was no moment we were comfortable. It wasn't because Swansea did a fantastic job.'

This was, we should remember, only De Boer's second home league game in charge. But Palace have now played three Premier League games, failed to score in any and supporters are concerned.

Palace were porous at the back and were put to the sword by a Swansea team who have been anything but ruthless during the first two weeks of the season. 

Abraham showed good movement and strength to hold off Martin Kelly and volley home after a Leroy Fer cross from the right

Kelly had earlier entered the action as a 10th-minute replacement for James Tomkins, who left the field with an injury

Teenager Abraham, on loan until the end of the season, celebrated his first Premier League goal with Kyle Naughton

Nineteen-year-old Abraham looked absolutely thrilled after putting Swansea ahead at Selhurst Park in south London

For a measure of Swansea's difficulties in a 0-0 draw at Southampton and 4-0 defeat by Manchester United, we need only point to one statistic: Tammy Abraham's 44th minute strike to open the scoring here constituted the club's first shot on target of the campaign.

That is not to say they did not have chances to score earlier. Jordan Ayew had come close after capitalising on complacency by Palace defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Alfie Mawson then headed wide from the subsequent corner.

Yet Paul Clement's team, shorn of Gylfi Sigurdsson and deprived of the injured Fernando Llorente, had hardly been peppering the Palace goal. Both teams set up with the 3-4-2-1 formation made popular by Chelsea last season and a tactical shutout ensued for much of the first period.

Yet Swansea were encouraged into the game by the most timid of Palace performances. De Boer hopes to transplant a Dutch 'total football' model into Selhurst Park but it is clear that roadworks lie ahead.

The Dutchman, for one thing, has taken over a team that operated at a far higher tempo under Sam Allardyce. Three games in and this set of players are simply not responding to their manager's ambitions and as pass after pass went astray, confidence drained from this Palace team like water down a drain.

Perhaps the most damning demonstration of Palace's difficulties is the fact that De Boer's side, for all their aspirations of dominating possession, had only 39 per cent of the ball in the first-half.

Swansea doubled their lead on 48 minutes when Ayew poked the ball past Crystal Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey

Naughton pinched the ball from Kelly in midfield and played a pass through to Ayew who got the better of the Welsh stopper

Ayew and Abraham both looked pumped up after the former's goal, while the Palace supporters seemed far from impressed

Swansea fans were delighted, though, and a couple of them patted Ayew's head after he ran over to the away end

 Signs of trouble appeared early on. Striker Christian Benteke often carried a lone fight and his frustration manifested itself inside 10 minutes after he crudely caught Federico Fernandez and received a yellow card for his troubles.

Palace's toil was best summed up by a desperate 30-yard effort by centre back James Tomkins, whose effort sailed far over the crossbar shortly before half-time. In doing so, Tomkins contrived to injure himself and he was replaced by former Liverpool defender Martin Kelly.

Kelly was to experience a most dreadful ordeal. As Leroy Fer collected possession midway inside Palace territory, Kelly began a grappling match with on-loan Chelsea forward Abraham. The Swansea forward gave as good as he got, breaking free and taking the cross first-time on the half volley to hand the away side a lead.

As the half-time whistle sounded, the boos rang out. Worse was to follow almost immediately after the restart. At half-time, De Boer changed formation to a four-man defence but Kelly, now at left back, once again lapsed. In trying to bypass Kyle Naughton, his pocket was picked inside his own side's territory.

Seeing green grass ahead of him, Naughton strode forward and slid the ball through the Palace defence, where Ayew beat Hennessy to the ball. The goalkeeper's efforts were tame, to put it politely, and the ball rebounded off Ayew and into the goal. 

Fellow forward Abraham and midfielder Fer also celebrated Ayew's goal with the travelling Swansea support

Swansea had not scored a single Premier League goal this season prior to the game, so the team's relief was understandable

New Swansea signing Sam Clucas (right) enjoyed a solid debut after signing from Hull City earlier this week 

Dutch defender Mike van der Hoorn, seen tackling Yohan Cabaye, was part of a Swans defence who kept Palace out in London

Swansea manager Clement said: 'It was not must-win but important after a draw and not creating much against Manchester United. We can view four points from three games as a reasonable start.'

For Palace, improvement is needed. That Palace's increasingly aimless players failed to respond should surprise nobody who has watched this squad veer from bad to worse at this ground over the past couple of seasons.

Palace did end last season with four wins in seven home games as Allardyce lifted spirit. Yet we should remember that there were only two home victories before the final week of February during a traumatic campaign. Allardyce spoke of a 'fear' that gripped his players at Selhurst Park and sadly, it seems to have returned.

In the stands, the cameras panned to an exasperated Wilfried Zaha, who is absent through injury, and then to Palace chairman Steve Parish, who peered anxiously at his mobile phone. 

He will know that reinforcements are needed before the transfer window closes on Thursday.

Dutchman De Boer was seen with his head in his hands, while Palace coach Sammy Lee looked at his watch late in the game