Roy Hodgson Urges His Palace Side to Carry Momentum Forward After Impressive Win Over Burnley
Roy Hodgson has urged his Crystal Palace side to carry their winning momentum forward after they secured an impressive 2-0 win against Burnley at Selhurst Park.
The hosts began the better of the two sides, creating a number of opportunities before finally getting the breakthrough 15 minutes into the game. James McArthur's cross evaded Max Meyer in the box, before the ball carried through and came off the inside of the post and into the back of the net.
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Palace deserved the lead and continue to pepper the Burnley goal, with the second half proving to follow the same pattern as the first did - with Palace dominating play. In the end the visitors never looked like threatening an equalising goal, and Andros Townsend made sure of the points in the closing stages of the game with a fantastic strike.
He struck the ball from 20 yards out which sailed into the top corner, leaving Joe Hart with no chance of saving it and clinching a comfortable 2-0 win for his side.
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Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Hodgson admitted that whilst he was delighted with his side's performance, he admitted they have to be careful and carry their momentum forward through a long season.
"We've just got to keep going. It's real nice today that we were rewarded but the Premier League is a marathon, in every sense of the word and marathon runners have to be very careful.
"You can have a good spell in your marathon where you're feeling good and running a good stretch but then suddenly, you either run out of steam or you don't have the legs to take you over the line.
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"I think it's important for us to realise that we've got to be good every week, irrespective of whether it gives us the reward or not because I really do believe that we've got the quality of players and organisation to lift us up the table but it's not going to happen overnight."
It was Crystal Palace's first home win of the season as well as their first win in their last nine Premier League games, which has helped them climb up to 14th in the table. Hodgson then went on to heap praise on Townsend's effort, claiming he deserved the goal for his efforts throughout the game.
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He added: "That is Andros, he has that in his locker, no question. This season, quite often he's cut in onto his good left foot like he did there, he's got good shots away but unfortunately he's been foiled by the goalkeeper or by a block, maybe struck it a bit too hard and not hit the target. It was nice this time that he got it just right. But it's certainly good reward for his efforts."
It was a much-needed win for Palace, and they'll be hoping it can kickstart their season as they look to make it back-to-back wins when they travel to face Brighton on Tuesday night.
