Roy Hodgson Claims Crystal Palace 'Deserved a Point' in Saturday's Defeat to Liverpool

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson claimed his side were worth at least a point in Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool and defended Christian Benteke's performance, after the striker was guilty of wasting a number of good opportunities. 

The Eagles took an early lead when Luka Milivojevic converted from the spot after Wilfried Zaha had been brought down by Loris Karius. Liverpool grabbed an equaliser moments after the break when Sadio Mane swept James Milner's cross past Wayne Hennessey. 

The Reds' sloppiness in defence gifted Benteke two glorious goalscoring chances - both of which he skied over the bar. Palace were made to pay for their wastefulness late on when Mohamed Salah kept his composure to rifle home the winner.

The Eagles have now won just once in their last seven home games and have fallen to 17th in the Premier League table with just two points more than 18th-placed Southampton. However, Hodgson believes his side should have come away from game with something. 

“The second half performance was very good, as was the first in terms of our defensive shape and discipline as we kept them at bay and limited their sight of goal," the former England boss said in his post-match press conference, as quoted by Crystal Palace's official website.

"In the second half, especially after it was 1-1, we evened the game out, our possession and movement was good and our ability to ask some questions of the Liverpool defence was much better.

“It was a bitter blow to concede the second goal because I thought that at least a point was the minimum that we could have accepted from the game today.

Regarding Benteke's performance, Hodgson continued: “He’s been working hard and his performance up to the missed chances had been extremely good, both in terms of his work-rate and discipline, as well as his ability to bring players into the game. 

"He was responsible for the flick-on for the penalty that put us into the lead, so his performance was very good.

“Of course, when you’re a centre-forward and haven’t scored for a while and miss chances, that’s all people want to judge you by. I have to make certain I judge him on different values because he is the centre-forward we have and is trying hard to do the right things. 

"He’s getting himself into goalscoing positions, but I have to encourage him as much as I can to keep getting in those, and trust him because he is a good technicians and the goal chances that come his way will be taken.”