Roy Hodgson was left disappointed after his side's 1-0 win over Aston Villa but brimmed with pride as he praised match-winner Jordan Ayew.

Palace could have had three or four goals in the first half alone as they peppered Villa’s box with dangerous balls but Ayew’s well-worked goal in the 73rd minute was the difference between the two teams.

Referee Kevin Friend was the talking point following the match disallowing a Villa goal with one of the last kicks of the game as he booked captain Jack Grealish for simulation.

This came off the back of a second yellow card for Mahmoud Trezeguet after a foolish challenge on Wilfried Zaha.

Hodgson was left questioning why the referee's decision was the main talking point after his team's impressive performance.

"I am very disappointed really and very dissatisfied that such a good performance over maybe 70 to 75 minutes where we really took the game to them and where we basically camped in their half and for a long period we were camped in their penalty area...and all of a sudden that is being reduced to ‘was the final decision that a referee made a right one or a wrong one?’" he said.

“If the referee had given the goal I wouldn't be here making any comments about it.

"I accept his decision 100%...I am happy that he didn't make another decision of course because it would have been a bitter blow to lose two points in the last minute of this game where we well and truly we could have been so far out of sight.”

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The Eagles boss was keen to praise his inform striker and match-winner Ayew, who had come in for criticism last season amongst some of the Selhurst crowd.

“Had he not scored the goal today and you had brought his name up I would have still been heaping praise on him because of the work that he does for us," he said.

"His tactical understanding, the number of times he does the job we want tactically to help other players take up the right position that they need to take up.

"I am not just talking attacking wise, I mean defending too.

"But when he puts icing on that cake by scoring a goal last week and a goal this week then it's happy days.

“In particular happy days for him and happy days that he deserves as last year he didn't get too many opportunities as he would have liked to have had.

"Many times he found himself on the bench as a substitute and not always getting onto the field of play and he never once stopped working hard in training and never once did he stop trying to do the right things in training, and players like that when their moment arrives as a coach you feel really happy for them.”

The Eagles will be looking for their third Premier League win on the bounce when they make the trip to North London to face Tottenham Hotspur after the international break.