Roy Hodgson expressed his admiration for Aston Villa’s counter-attacking prowess as Palace fell to a 3-0 defeat on Boxing Day.
“We all know in the Premier League how important the first goal is,” he said in his post-match press conference. “If you can get it, it can give you a considerable edge. Recently we’ve been conceding early goals.”
Wilfried Zaha went close after 30 seconds before Villa took the lead moments later.
“We almost had a goal ourselves in the first couple of minutes. We had an excellent chance and Wilf [Zaha] was unlucky not to score, so it was almost the other way around.