Watford was relegated from the Premier League as Crystal Palace produced one of the narrow football results of the weekend. Wilfried Zaha scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot before Hassane Kamara was sent off in the 69th minute. It was an unhappy return for Roy Hodgson who was back at his old stomping ground ever since leaving last season.
Player ratings
Crystal Palace: Butland (5), Clyne (6), Andersen (8), Guehi (7), Ward (6), Gallagher (6), Hughes (6), Olise (8), Edouard (7), Zaha (8), Eze (7).
Subs used: Schlupp (6), Mitchell (6), Mateta (6).
Watford: Foster (7), Femenia (6), Cathcart (6), Samir (6), Kamara (5), Sissoko (7), Cleverley (6), Kayembe (5), Sarr (5), King (5), Dennis (5).
Subs used: Sema (6), Masina (5), Ekong (n/a).
Man of the match: Michael Olise.
Managers Reaction
Watford manager Roy Hodgson: “I have no regrets [about taking the Watford job]. One can’t be pleased with the job one has done if it doesn’t work out in the way everyone wanted it to. We came thinking we could help the team avoid relegation, but we haven’t been able to do that. They were in the relegation zone when we came and they’re still there. To say I was pleased would almost be an inflammatory remark.”
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira:
“In the first half, we created a couple of chances that we should take and score those goals. In the second half, we didn’t create very much. I thought we were a little bit sloppy in our passes, in our movement. But we managed to win the game and we showed maturity. We managed to control the game even when we weren’t playing and that’s good because we’re growing up as a team and learning from those mistakes that we made from the start of the season. We kept our organization and we respected the game.”
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