Roy Hodgson believes Mamadou Sakho was right to be sent off but was a “victim of new interpretation of rules”.
Palace rose to fifth in the Premier League table with a 1-0 win over Bournemouth – above the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United – thanks to the victory, which was secured through Jeffrey Schlupp’s second half goal.
Schlupp had initially come on in the first half to replace the injured Patrick Van Aanholt – at a time when Mamadou Sakho had already been sent off.
Hodgson was pleased with the way his side reacted to the early adversity to get their hands on the three points.
“It was a great victory,” he told Match of the Day. “I’m full of praise for what the players did today. To firstly lose your centre-back to a challenge which the referee deems to be a red card, and then to lose a left-back in an area where we have no cover.
“The last place we could really cover injuries was at the back, but we did and I thought the players showed an outstanding attitude at the back. Normally when you win 1-0 with 10 men you think you were lucky, but that wasn’t really the case and we had a few chances of our own so I’m delighted for he players.
“The referees are now under strict instructions, if they deem a challenge to be a little bit fierce, they are encouraged to give red cards. Under the new rules, I cannot make any complaints about it and I don’t think it was an error but Mamadou was perhaps a victim of the new interpretation of the rules. We will miss him because we have centre-halves injured at the minute.
“We think we have options going forward and our passing in midfield was very good. When we were 11 v 11, I thought we were looking to play through midfield. That changed when you go down a man but we didn’t back off and we still tried to play out.
“I think if there were any more goals to be had this season, I would save them for other games. I’m more than happy with 1-0 and it was fantastic support again tonight.”
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