Hodgson on Chelsea performance and late penalty decision
Roy Hodgson says his Palace team deserved one point and potentially three after their late defeat at Stamford Bridge, as he expressed his disappointment in another VAR decision against his side.
"I thought we played very well and I thought that we deserved to get something from that game,” the manager said at his press conference. “I think that we really could have even said that a performance like that should have got us the three points, [but] that's got nothing.
“So then the next question, am I frightened to death now because we are only a few points above the relegation zone? I'll answer that one for you as well. No, I'm not because it doesn't matter to me who's top of the league at this moment in time.
“It doesn't matter that Aston Villa could go top last night but lose and finish third or fourth. It doesn't bother me. What bothers me is 38 games and where we're going to be.
“What I think is that with this team and the way we've played the last four games – home to Liverpool where we certainly did not deserve to lose that one; Man City where we defended well and got ourselves an incredible point; Brighton, tough team, 1-1 and a decent performance; Chelsea here today, one of the top teams in the country, if not the world – we've come out here and we've matched them I think step for step.
“That gives me great hope and great heart for the future. I'm sad at the moment because I think I should be sitting here now with at least one point behind.”
Palace lost to a late Noni Madueke penalty, awarded after a lengthy VAR check.
“We just have to accept there's two referees every game, and every time something happens on the field of play and the referee makes the decision, you still have to wait several minutes just in case somebody in the studio, someone hasn't whispered in his ear that he's seen something different,” Hodgson said.
“So that happens. People will discuss and look at it themselves: ‘Was it, wasn't it?’ But the fact is we are taking away the decisions or we are trashing, if you like, the decisions of the guy on the field close to it and we're handing it over to someone in front of a TV screen.
“It wasn't my obvious idea of what a penalty looks like of course, but that's the same for so many penalties I see given are not my obvious idea of what a penalty looks like because I suppose I'm conditioned to some extent by having seen penalties given and not given for very many years.”
Despite the result, Hodgson praised his players application in a game he felt they were unfortunate to lose
“How did I think we matched Chelsea? I thought our pressure was good,” the manager explained. “I thought we stopped them building up a play for long periods of time.
“We had a good period in the first-half. We started the game very well. They had a period after maybe 15 or 20 minutes where they cut through us once or twice.
“But after that I think we sorted that out and I thought in the second-half really there was possibly more action in and around their penalty area than even there was around ours.
“I was comfortable with our passing throughout the game, but like everything else you need to convert if you like those opportunities and half-opportunities in around the opponent's penalty area into goals, otherwise, unfortunately, you run the risk that you'll get something at the other end.”