Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson 'proud' of Eagles' fight in Man City defeat

Roy Hodgson said he was proud of his Crystal Palace side's work rate after going down 2-0 to champions Manchester City.

Gabriel Jesus and David Silva's quick-fire goals in the first half were the difference in the end to seal a comfortable victory for the visitors.

After a quiet first-half display, the south London side improved in the second half with goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey making a string of superb stops.

The Eagles applied some late pressure themselves, with Man City goalkeeper Ederson forced into making two stunning saves to deny Wilfried Zaha and substitute Christian Benteke.

And Hodgson was pleased with how his side performed in front of the Selhust Park crowd in spite of the defeat.

"I thought we worked unbelievably hard and we came across a Manchester City in top form," Hodgson told Sky Sports.

"They gave us no time on the ball whatsoever and they played with their usual aplomb in the final third.

"We were a bit unlucky in the final third ourselves but we can't have any complaints really. I was proud of the way we fought and kept going when it was going against us and we could have come away with a goal or two ourselves.

"Our players worked really hard to follow our game plan and we tried to seal them off but it's hard because they have so much quality in their team.

"We needed an early goal to shake them and that didn't happen but we kept going and kept trying."