Roy Hodgson stopped short of admitting Mamadou Sakho’s red card was justified in Crystal Palace’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth.

Sakho was given his marching orders in the 20th minute after lunging and catching full-back Adam Smith at knee-height with his raised boot right in front of the dugout.

The Palace boss turned away instantly, seemingly knowing referee Anthony Taylor wouldn’t hesitate in brandishing a red card.

“I can’t deny it was a strong, aggressive challenge,” Hodgson said.

“So the referee has made the decision that he has had to take.

“You always feel a little hard done by in those situations, because the ball is there to be won and it was a brave and strong challenge by Mamadou Sakho.

“Of course, then we had to play with ten men for a long time.”

Penalty Shout

Hodgson went on to praise Taylor for his handling of the contest, despite strong appeals from Wilfried Zaha and the Selhurst Park faithful for a penalty.

Through on goal Bournemouth’s Chris Mepham seemingly pushed Zaha to the deck with no attempt for the ball. Taylor waved play on.

“It was too far away from me to see to be honest,” Hodgson continued.

“I heard the crowd calling for a penalty, and Wilf obviously thought so too, but I would have to see it again in a replay, which I haven’t done.

“But I trust the referee, I have got to say.

“There were quite a few situations with players going down under challenges, and if he had blown for a foul every time a player went down, the game would have been littered with them.

“But we are talking about one of the best referees in Europe, and I am not prepared to discuss after such a good result, to complain whether or not we could or should have had a penalty.”

Subsitute Jeffrey Schlupp, on for the injured Patrick van Aanholt at let-back in the first half, got the only goal of the game pushing Palace up to fifth in the table.

Hodgson unsurprisingly was full of praise for his side’s resolute rearguard display.

“I was absolutely delighted with the performance, for ten men to stand their ground against a team that is asking lots of questions, and to maintain their shape and maintain their discipline, and not just drop and kick balls away in the hope that it will be enough, but to try and stop crosses and close gaps in the hope of succeeding.

“And we were still trying to come out with the ball and when we had the chance, we were asking questions of them, so I am really proud of the team and really pleased for them, and I think they deserve an awful amount of credit for these three points.”

READ: REPORT: Crystal Palace 1 Bournemouth 0

READ: PLAYER RATINGS: Crystal Palace 1 Bournemouth 0