‘Robbed’ - Roy Hodgson makes emphatic claim after Wolves 2-0 Crystal Palace

Roy Hodgson was adamant a 2-0 loss for Crystal Palace didn’t reflect the course of the game after his side were defeated by Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Tuesday. The Eagles head coach saw his four-game unbeaten run come to an end under the lights as Wolves battled hard to hold onto their lead, before putting the game beyond doubt late on.

The hosts took a very early lead through a bizarre Joachim Andersen own goal and defended resolutely to halt Palace from creating many clear-cut opportunities throughout. Ruben Neves then scored a second half stoppage time penalty to secure a vital three points for Wanderers, handing the visitors a first defeat since Hodgson’s managerial return.

“It was hard with that many Wolves players - especially at the end with the back five - for us to get the equaliser I think we deserved,” Hodgson told the media post-match. “It didn’t happen and we got robbed of our belief in the last few minutes. We gave away that penalty to lose 2-0 but I don’t think 2-0 was a reflective result.”

Wanderers’ back line did indeed make things tricky for Palace to get through as the men in red and blue had plenty of possession but were unable to create many openings of note. The likes of Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze drew blanks, with the latter only able to unleash strikes from outside the penalty area.

Hodgson, who was fairly relaxed in the press room despite the defeat, had a lot of appreciation for the solidity of Julen Lopetegui’s team. “Credit to Wolves - this is a talented Wolves squad, don’t make any mistake about that,” Hodgson continued. “We had such a lot of the ball in the second half and the football was good but they defended the corners and crosses well.”

Following Tuesday night’s result, both Palace and Wolves are now nine points clear of the Premier League bottom three. The job isn’t done yet - and both managers made that clear - but supporters likely won’t be losing too much sleep considering the likelihood of relegation is extremely low.