Duo Reflect On Chelsea Loss

James Tomkins and Patrick van Aanholt have been giving their thoughts on Crystal Palace’s loss to Chelsea on Saturday.

Heading to Stamford Bridge for what became a two one defeat with Roy Hodgson already talking about what a poor first half it was for the side, Tomkins as he spoke to Crystal Palace FC post game was on board with what the gaffer had said but he also felt we could take a lot of heart from how we ended the game.

‘If the game had gone on a bit longer we could have scored. We were unlucky with the decision to disallow Alex’s goal. You can look at it and say we were unlucky, but it’s another defeat. We’ve taken the big teams close, right to the wire, but it’s still disappointing because a loss is a loss, whether you win 5-0 or 1-0, we need points now.’

He went on to say.

‘For me, not a chance it was a foul. I think Jairo pulls his leg away, even Gary Cahill got asked by one of the lads and he didn’t know why is was disallowed. The referee’s made that decision without a reaction from the Chelsea players, so it’s disappointing, but we have to go again.’

In van Aanholt’s own interviews with the media, he admitted he could take little joy in his goal given the defeat.

‘We started the game in a sloppy fashion and found ourselves 2-0 down in a half where they had a lot of chances and we were not in the game at all and came in at half time and spoke together and knew we needed to pick it back up and in the second half we came out as a different team.’

He added.

‘If I scored the equaliser I would be standing here with a smile on my face but we still lost the game so I am disappointed.’

He did however have positives words for Wilfried Zaha who returned from injury in the game and gave us an immediate uplift despite not being fully fit yet.

‘He came on and did very well; we know what he can do and what he gives to the team with his energy and his skills. He`s a good player so we are pleased to have him back.’