Roy Hodgson has sympathy for Wilfried Zaha after his red card in the 1-1 draw at Southampton
Wednesday 30 January 2019 23:39, UK
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has sympathy for Wilfried Zaha after the Ivory Coast international was sent off for dissent in the 1-1 Premier League draw with Southampton at St Mary's.
Zaha was booked twice in a matter of seconds by referee Andre Marriner, after clapping the official's decision to caution him, having questioned his failure to award a free-kick after a push by James Ward-Prowse.
The incident compounded a disappointing evening for the Eagles, who missed the chance to go six points clear of the relegation zone after the Ivorian's opener was cancelled out by Ward-Prowse with 13 minutes left.
"It is a bad day for us because we lose one of our most important players to a sending off," said the ex-England manager.
"We dropped two points, which I think we should really have had. He had to put up with a lot of fouling.
"He was clearly pushed over the line by Ward-Prowse and no foul was given and that unfortunately involved him losing his temper and being frustrated and reacting.
"We have no qualms or complaints about the referee sending him off for clapping or applauding the decision because that is the rules of the game.
"If we talk about what he had to put up with, being sent off is a harsh reward for giving such a good performance."
Southampton themselves could have been reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens' studs-up lunge on Andros Townsend went unpunished in the first half, despite taking place with Marriner nearby.
And Hodgson was under no illusion that the Saints defender should have seen red.
He added: "I think it was a red-card offence. I thought that at the time and I thought that even more when I saw it in slow motion at half-time.
"I am sure the people who sit down and look at that, a large portion of them will agree with me but we didn't get it.
"We weren't exactly blessed [with decision] but these are things that happen in football. But that does not excuse the fact that we should have won this game."
With less than 24 hours remaining in the January transfer window, Hodgson admitted it was "unlikely" the club would be adding to the signings of Bakary Sako and goalkeeper Lucas Perri.
