Roy Hodgson claims Crystal Palace are NOT in the relegation battle
‘We aren’t in it anymore’: Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson claims Eagles are NOT in the relegation battle after climbing to 11th with win over London rivals West Ham
- Crystal Palace picked up their fourth win in sixth after beating West Ham 3-2
- Roy Hodgson says Premier League survival has come sooner than he expected
- The Eagles have climbed above Chelsea into 11th after win at Selhurst Park
Roy Hodgson has claimed Crystal Palace are out of the relegation battle after their 4-3 win over London rivals West Ham.
The Eagles have climbed to 11th in the Premier League table after picking up their fourth win in six games under Hodgson thanks to goals by Jordan Ayew, Wilfried Zaha, Jeffrey Schlupp and Eberechi Eze.
Hodgson says he expected the Crystal Palace’s battle against the drop to continue into the final matches of the season but has now urged his players to maintain their recent bright form.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the 78-year-old said: ‘Its true, we quite frankly were looking at two of the last three games being in the relegation battle, that I won’t say with us because we aren’t in it anymore, as being the games that we would need to produce something against to stay up.
‘Now it’s up to the players, we’re going to keep working as staff so it will be up to them to see if they can keep producing the performances they have in the last six in the last four.’
Crystal Palace have climbed to 11th in the table after coming from behind to beat West Ham
Roy Hodgson believes the Eagles are now safe from relegation after a fourth win in six matches
An action-packed first half at Selhurst Park saw West Ham take the lead through Tomas Soucek after nine minutes before the hosts the hosts replied with three goals by Ayew, Schlupp and Zaha to go into the break 3-2 up.
Eberechi Eze converted from the penalty spot but Nayef Aguerd put the Hammers’ within touching distance again after 72 minutes before Crystal Palace claimed the vital three points.
‘It was a wonderful first half from our point of view, we played really well, did all the things we hoped we could do and our quality players produced,’ Hodgson said.
‘Quality to West Ham to keep coming down from 2 goals behind, they’ve had a hectic schedule and it was incredible what they were able to do from set pieces, keeping the game alive.’
Asked about his team’s efficient attack, the Eagles boss added: ‘Sometimes there’s one or two too many flicks, but they were good today, the goals we scored today were good goals. We kept sustaining attackers and then winning the all back so well when they cleared it.
If you’re going to become a good attacking team you can do you work and get the patterns of play how you want but without the quality of the players nobody notices it. The way we’ve worked here is exactly the same as we did four years ago, but now the club is set up with a more potent set up than before.’
The win has taken the South London side above Chelsea, albeit having played two additional games in comparison to Frank Lampard’s Blues, who are not in action until Tuesday.
Crystal Palace’s next match is also a London derby, this time an away trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next Saturday.
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