Palace went into the break 2-1 down to Alvaro Arbeloa’s Fulham, but managed to bounce back and secure their first three points under Sage in the second half.
Summer signing Ben Chillwell’s 77th-minute goal proved to be the winner, his first since returning to the club following a loan spell in the 2024/25 season.
Speaking after the game, Sage was pleased to get his first win, but admitted his side’s first half performance wasn’t good enough.
"It's a good result but we have to be honest, our start has not been of the level expected. We did better with mentality in the second half,” he said.
"I said to the players in the dressing room, I hope they feel the pain of failing to win, because sometimes we have to do it like this.
"I'm happy to win for the guys because they work a lot, but we are aware of what happened during the first two games; we could have more points. We are late in the table, so we need to do more."