We didn’t deserve to lose against Arsenal - Edouard

With only three games down in the English Premier League (EPL), French and Crystal Palace forward Odsonne Edouard has already hit the headline.

He scored the winner goal at Bramall Lane, away to newcomer Sheffield United, which was the perfect start to the new campaign.

Edouard tapped home from close-range after Jordan Aye’s excellent delivery found him in the six-yard box. It was enough to get Palace off to a winning start in the new 2023/24 season.

Having scored five times last season in the league, Edouard is looking to increase his tally this time around. He said goals bring confidence and a good way to start for the player with Haitian Family ancestry.

“It was the first game, and we worked very hard to win the first game,” Eduard said. “I think we dominated the game. We should score more goals but it is good for the next few games.

“I’m a striker, so my target is to score goals for the team and I hope I will do this to help the team. It is good for the confidence as a forward.

“We have a good team, we have to work hard and today we win and we proved we have a good squad.

“It’s just the start of the season. There are more than 30 games coming, so we will see!”

Eduard told Palace TV: “It’s clear the manager trusts me. I try to give everything on the pitch to score goals for the team and for him.”

On his goal, he added: “I know Jordan and his quality on one-versus-one. We spoke five minutes before and he told me ‘every time I have the ball one-on-one, go to the box and I will find you.’

“I trusted him, he gave me the perfect ball, and I just had to put my foot on it!

“As a striker, I need to be in the box in the right moment. It’s what I do. It was a good goal.”

On debutant Jefferson Lemma, he also noted: “He was very, very good today. He’s a midfielder we need.

“He will give a lot of confidence for the attacking players to go forward because he wins so many duels and is so good on the ball. I hope he keeps playing like this.”

Though, the team lost their second game of the season 1-0 to Arsenal, he believed that they deserved a result in the match.

He was pleased with the fight that Crystal Palace displayed against Arsenal, believing it will serve his side well moving forward.

“We did not deserve to lose that match. We were organised and played well with 10 men. We can build on that in successive matches.”

Manager Roy Hodgson echoed similar sentiment, insisting that they had a ‘well-organised’ performance in defeat

While disappointed to end up on the losing side, Hodgson drew positives from his side’s performance against Arsenal.

The Eagles were denied a point in their first home Premier League game of 2023/24 by fine margins, with only a second-half penalty – converted by Martin Overgaard – the difference in a keenly-fought derby which the visitors ended with 10 men.

Hodgson reflected: “I thought the shape of the team was good. I thought the team discipline was very good too. We worked very, very hard.

“I thought when we had the chance to get in the ascendancy when they went down to 10 men, we took that opportunity and got players forward and got the ball in and around their goal ,and made them clear it as many times as we possibly could.

“You have to give Arsenal credit for their defensive organisation. They got the blocks in when they were necessary. Their goalkeeper was there also to make a few saves from the crosses.

“I don’t know if I could have asked that much more from the players in that situation, or more from the players in those 90 minutes. It was a very well organised performance and disciplined performance. On another day, we wouldn’t have conceded a penalty, and on another day, we could have had an equalizer despite the penalty.”

Hodgson admitted his frustration at the build-up to the awarding of Arsenal’s penalty, awarded upon VAR review.

He said: “Of course, we paid the price for the goal – the quick free-kick, where we complained that the player who was going to defend that space was blocked off and not allowed to go in there, but obviously the VAR and the referee felt differently.

“I don’t know what you do about blocking. When players are blocked off, as they often are from corner kicks and that sort of situation, you just have to rely on the referee to see it as a block that’s allowed in the laws of the game. I don’t know if you can say to a player ‘you must not get blocked off,” Hodgson added.