Crystal Palace captain: Bad mistake cost us big time in defeat to Tottenham

Crystal Palace skipper Luka Milivojevic bemoaned “one bad mistake” which put Tottenham Hotspur on their way to victory in their first game at their stadium. The Eagles had looked to frustrate their hosts.

Hueng-Min Son’s strike deflected off Milivojevic and broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second-half, before Christian Eriksen killed the game off late on.

“In the first-half we played as we wanted to,” said the Serbian midfielder. “We had the first chance after three or four minutes through [Jeffrey] Schlupp.

Honestly, they are a good side and they controlled it, but they didn’t create a lot. “Second-half, they scored the first goal by my deflection. They opened the game. After that it was not easy for us. We tried, we had some chances. They scored the second one. I thought it was a very cheap goal.

“After that goal we created four or five very good chances. In the end they deserved three points. We played well, but not enough to take some points.

“One bad mistake in the middle of the pitch and they punish us with the ball forward.

I ran back and tried to correct my bad pass and, in the end, it became an even worse situation. I touched the ball and it went to the goal.

“The atmosphere was great and the stadium is amazing but for us this was one more Premier League game.

“We tried to do our job, concentrate on our work and try to get some points from this game.

“For them, they felt a little bit of pressure I think. Maybe that’s why they had some passes that they miss which normally they don’t miss. Because it’s not easy – first game at home and trying to win in front of 60,000 people.

We tried to get our chance to punish them and take one or three points but, in the end, I think what we can do.

“They’re a good side. They are in the quarter-final of the Champions League.

“We’ve got six games to go. The next one is Newcastle. A tough one, as well. We’ll try now to recover as soon as possible and to prepare for the next game.”