Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has said that Heung Min Son’s winner for Tottenham Hotspur against the Eagles today was ‘a bitter blow’.
Tough to take
Palace had restricted the home side to very few clear cut opportunities for the first hour of the match, until Spurs’ Son curled a shot home from just outside the penalty area after 64 minutes.
“We had quite a few moments of our own at the other end so it was a bitter blow to lose 1-0," said Hodgson.
"We caused them a good deal of problems, Zaha's chance and others we could have scored."
The Wilfried Zaha chance mentioned by Hodgson after the game was a key moment which came minutes before Tottenham took the lead. Serge Aurier gifted the ball to the Eagles and Zaha found himself on the edge of the area at an angle with an open goal, however he narrowly shot wide.
Chances wasted
“When you don't take your chances, you run the risk of them scoring at the other end and that's what happened.”
Despite the defeat, Hodgson remained in a positive mood thanks to the performance his players gave.
"I am pleased with how we went about our business. I can't ask much more of what the players are giving.
“They are not lacking belief but when you are playing Tottenham away, you need a bit of luck and we did not get it."
Lack of natural finishers
In the absence of Christian Benteke, Andros Townsend lead the line with Zaha for another fixture, but the Palace boss does not see this as a long term solution for the teams’ lack of goals this season.
“It would be nice by the end of the season to have one person who is a centre forward and goalscorer.
“They have Kane, Son and Llorente, and all we have if we want to change something is Bakary Sako, who is a left winger trying his best as a centre forward.”
Back to the training pitch
Palace remain bottom of the Premier League as the international break begins, and Hodgson is keen to use this time to keep improving.
“We have a couple of weeks now and have a few players away, but not as many as some teams so we can still do quite a lot of work on our shape and keep going and trying to ensure that the players keep believing.”