Roy: I’m not as good as I was before the game!
Hodgson is welcomed back... with bore draw
ROY HODGSON returned to the dugout yesterday but will have spent much of yesterday afternoon wondering why he bothered.
The 76-year-old Crystal Palace boss missed last week’s defeat at Aston Villa with illness, and even had to listen to the game on the radio after failing to work a web link sent by the club. He was back on the touchline here to see Palace play out a stalemate with his former side Fulham, in a match where entertainment was frankly hard to come by.
Hodgson could have been forgiven for wishing he was back home and using the excuse of a dodgy stream for the second week in a row.
‘I was really happy to be back,’ said Hodgson — and it was good to see him back. ‘I was very touched by all the concern, which it turned out was perhaps not as necessary as people thought it would be. I knew this game would be a tough one, but if you ask me how I’m feeling, I’m not quite as good as before the game!’
Marco Silva’s visitors had the clearest chance to win the match, late on through Willian, but the Brazilian could not capitalise. And Palace do not make a habit of losing home games, even when they are not at their best. They have tasted defeat in the league at Selhurst Park only twice since January. They did not add to that tally here, although they rarely looked like adding three points either.
‘I was pleased with the performance,’ said Silva. ‘We just have to be more effective with our attack. (Eberechi) Eze is a top player but we controlled him well. There are many positives — we’re going in the right direction.’
Ahead of kick-off, Hodgson was greeted with reverence usually reserved for a foreign dignitary by Silva and his assistant Luis Boa Morte. ‘I still get too wound up in games to appreciate (the adulation),’ he said. ‘Maybe there will be a time when I’ll have a really warm glow about it. But in the second half I was more frustrated at not finding that winning goal.’
Fulham had the better of a quiet first half. They pressed high up the pitch and snapped into tackles, while looking vaguely threatening on the counter. After half an hour, Palace were yet to threaten at all. A few flashes of skill from Eze were all the home fans had to cheer.
The most dramatic moment of the opening act came when Joachim Andersen knocked into Andreas Pereira off the ball and gave him a pat on the back on the way past. Pereira acted as if he had been shot, keeling over and clutching his back in a manner that would have made Hodgson blush. Palace at least ended the half brighter. In the 42nd minute, Eze manoeuvred himself some space around the edge of the Fulham box and curled just wide.
The game picked up where it left off after the break, which is not a compliment. Palace had a half-hearted appeal for a penalty when Eze felt he was manhandled. Soon after, Fulham looked well placed to counter when Bobby Decordova-Reid played in Jimenez down the right, but his ball across goal did not find Pereira.
Hodgson sent on striker Jean-Philippe Mateta for Jeffrey Schlupp to add some attacking impetus but the substitute had little effect.
Instead it was Fulham who came closest to a winner. Timothy Castagne raced up the right flank and passed inside to Reed, who found an unmarked Willian. But the Brazilian fired straight at Sam Johnstone, and that just about summed the afternoon up.
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-2-3-1): Johnstone 7.5; Ward 6.5, Andersen 7, Guehi 7, Mitchell 6.5; Hughes 7, Doucoure 6.5; Ayew 6, Schlupp 6 (Mateta 70min, 6), Eze 6.5; Edouard 6.5 (Rak-Sakyi 90). Booked: Ayew, Mitchell, Doucoure. Subs (not used): Henderson, Matthews, Holding, Clyne, Richards, Riedewald, Ebiowei.
FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno 7; Castagne 8, Diop 7, Ream 6, Robinson 7; Reed 7, Palhinha 7; Decordova-Reid 6 (Wilson 79), Pereira 7 (Iwobi 75), Willian 6.5; Jimenez 6.5 (Vinicius 79). Booked: Palhinha, Ream. Subs (not used): Rodak, Bassey, Ballo-Toure, Muniz, Francois, Cairney.
Referee: P Tierney (Lancashire) 6.