Crystal Palace Boss Roy Hodgson Brands Chelsea 'Better Team' Following 1-0 Loss

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson admitted his side lost to the better team on Sunday afternoon, as a second half strike from N'Golo Kanté saw his team suffer a

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson admitted his side lost to the better team on Sunday afternoon, as a second half strike from N'Golo Kanté saw his team suffer a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.

The Eagles looked to thwart their opponents' attacking advances from the first whistle and headed into the break having effectively frustrated the visitors. 

However, the Blues managed to break the deadlock early on in the second half and Hodgson's side were unable to produce a comeback, with their lacklustre attacking play seeing them slump to a frustrating defeat.

We pick ourselves up and go again. #CPFC 🦅 pic.twitter.com/OnWJo70PRU

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 30, 2018

Speaking after the narrow loss, via Sky Sports, Hodgson praised his side's efforts, stating: "I thought we worked as hard as we could work and we were playing a very good team who made it difficult for us to disturb their passing rhythm. I thought they were very good on the ball, but I thought our discipline, particularly in the first half, was very good."

"We kept them in front of us, they had a lot of the ball but they weren't creating chances. But when they score the goal, everything changes. 

"We've then got two options - fly at it like we did in the final 15 minutes, and run the risk of conceding two, three or four, or to keep it tight for a little bit longer in the hope that you'll then create something, or the ball will fall your way and you would get what would have been an undeserved point."

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Hodgson continued: "So I don't know if we could have done much more in terms of our approach to the game. We played against a very good side and they were much better than we were."

"There were a couple of moments where I thought we had the ball in their final third a lot more and we were trying our very best to find that opening, but, unfortunately, in one or two moments our technique let us down in those areas."

The Eagles will look to put their disappointment behind them on Wednesday evening, when they head to high-flying Wolverhampton Wanderers in search of a good result. 

The Premier League new boys defeated Spurs 3-1 at Wembley on Saturday, and Hodgson's side will need to up their game if they're to secure a win against Nuno Espírito Santo's side.