Roy Hodgson Unapologetic Following Crystal Palace's Opening Day 2-0 Victory Over Former Club Fulham

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson refused to apologise after his side beat former club Fulham 2-0, on the opening day of the new season.

Despite having Wayne Hennessey to thank for string of important saves in the first period, goals either side of half time from Jeffrey Schlupp and Wilfried Zaha secured all three points to give the Eagles the perfect start to the season.

Having started last season with seven straight defeats, Hodgson was delighted with the win, especially after his side had to whether an early onslaught from the newly promoted hosts.

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Speaking post-match to Sky Sports, he said: "Fulham started the game very brightly. We were mentally prepared for that and we'd spoken about it, I don't think it was a surprise to anybody, but we didn't do as well as we could have done in dealing with it.

"Luckily, we scored a great goal which helps and another disallowed for offside, rightly so, but that is something that would have put our minds at rest a bit earlier but I thought in the second half, we played much better.

"We certainly have no reason to apologise for coming here today and winning because in the second half, we had quite a lot of control over the game and we created some good chances."

While Hodgson was complimentary of Hennessey for his performance, he also commended Aaron Wan-Bissaka, with the 20-year-old impressing in only his eighth Premier League

appearance, providing the assist for Zaha's second half strike. 

He continued, stating: "I thought Wan-Bissaka was excellent today in every respect, both defensively and going forward. Towards the end, he was really causing them some severe problems."

Next for Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace is their first home game of the season against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, who welcome the Reds in over a weeks time on Monday.