“It got away for us because we had a little dodgy period either side of half-time,” he said in his post-match interview. “We missed a penalty which would have put us in quite a nice position going into the interval, and then as soon as the second-half started they got that goal that does change things.
“The second-half certainly evened out, though we had some chances of our own and we decided in the last 20 minutes to go for it. We opened up into a 4-4-2/4-2-4, and as a result that opened up the space in midfield to create that excellent pass into Danny Ings and that’s what cost us in the end.
“I’ve seen us play better, but it certainly wasn’t a case of us not wanting to get something from the game. We must dust ourselves down now and accept it wasn’t our night tonight, and give similar performances or better in our last three games, because it would be nice to get a win or two before the end of the season.
“We don’t want our season to peter out. We don’t want anyone to accuse us of not trying our best right up until the end.”
Hodgson addressed Luka Milivojevic’s missed penalty, pointing out that his side created a number of chances throughout the game.
“He doesn’t miss many – he’s been very good with penalties over the years,” he said. “Penalties get missed unfortunately. We’ve got to try and find our way back into the game. We tried hard but it didn’t work out, and in the end they got that third goal that sealed the game.
“He [Christian Benteke] had a lot of chances: a very good header and he got denied with a last ditch tackle. Wilf [Zaha] also got in some very good positions in the penalty area. We weren’t lacking in threat, but they were very good today and had the advantage in the game, and as a result it gave them the victory.”
READ NEXT: Report - Palace fall to defeat at Southampton
