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Crystal Palace boss Vieira claims his side deserved a draw against Chelsea

Patrick Vieira bemoaned Crystal Palace’s lack of concentration as Hakim Ziyech scored an 88th-minute winner for Chelsea in their 1-0 win at Selhurst Park.

Chelsea thought they had won the game in the 74th minute when Hakim Ziyech turned home Romelu Lukaku’s rebound but VAR replays showed that the Belgian forward was offside in the build up.

Ziyech eventually found the winner in the 88th minute when he escaped Tyrick Mitchell at the back post and swept Marcos Alonso’s cross past Butland.

“It was frustrating to concede the goal in that way at the end. We knew that we needed to defend well as a team for 95 minutes, and we did that quite well,” said Vieira.

“It showed the quality of Chelsea and how important it is to keep our concentration high for the whole game, and we didn’t.

Crystal Palace v Chelsea, Premier League, Selhurst Park, 19 February 2022

“To get punished like that at the end is really difficult for the players because they deserved a draw today.”

The Eagles remain winless in 2022 and failed to register a single shot on target during the 90 minutes against Thomas Tuchel’s side.

Palace did go close during the contest, with Wilfried Zaha dragging two shots just wide of Edouard Mendy’s goal in both halves.

When asked if it was the only area of the game his side could have improved on, Vieira said: “If you want to score goals, you have to hit the target or at least make the keeper work. Today, that was one of the areas that we didn’t do well.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD

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