Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace side turned out second best in a fiercely contested derby clash against Brighton in the Premier League's early kick-off on Saturday. The former England boss suggested his side had enough control of the game to win but couldn't do enough to create clear-cut chances against a resolute defence.
Glenn Murray capitalised on the windy conditions as James Tomkins failed to correctly judge the flight of the ball. The former Palace man popped up with an excellent volley to open the scoring inside the first 20 minutes.
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) March 9, 2019
That goal allowed Brighton
“We did dominate possession, we had a lot of the ball, and came across a packed defence.
"We had high hopes at 1-1, that we would go on to use our possession and territorial advantage to get a second goal. But of course, we found ourselves on the end of a magnificent strike, that turns out to be the winning goal."
Anthony Knockaert got the decisive goal that spoilt the afternoon for Palace and left fans looking ahead to an enticing FA Cup quarter-final clash. Hodgson admitted that safety must come first regardless of how close they come to an unprecedented cup final.
Report: Palace 1-2 Brighton
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) March 9, 2019
"Our priority is to stay in the Premier League, but if we can get to a cup semi-final that would be a nice thing to do too.”
Source: 90min