Stoke City 1-2 Crystal Palace - 6 Things We Learned

3. Hughes - The Mark Of A Sore Loser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z3hOdG0hxg The comments of opposition managers after a loss can normally be taken with a pinch of salt but on Saturday, Mark Hughes was particularly churlish and his post match shenanigans deserve scrutiny. There is more than one way to skin a cat and if your team, after dominating possession, can only find a breakthrough through the award of a fortuitous penalty decision, then some retrospection might be in order. Twenty one shots off target tells its own story. To bemoan the loss as completely undeserved is disingenuous at best. After Palace snuck in ahead at half time, the impetus was on his side to attack and get back in the game. As the away team playing in difficult conditions with a slender lead, Palace were always going to sit back and try and catch Stoke on the counter and would have executed the game plan perfectly had it not been for a couple of excellent Jack Butland saves. Aside from one Bojan effort that was well saved by Hennessey and a deflected Arnautovic effort that span just wide, Palace did well to hold Stoke at arm's length and there was never a feeling that they were particularly hanging on. While it's frustrating losing a game where you've dominated the possession stats and the shots off target stats, football isn't a game that is decided on how much of the ball or territorial advantage a team has. Hughes knows that and he would do better trying to work out how to get his team scoring some goals.
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South East London basest dilettante and quacksalver.