Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Bruno Lage felt his side were outfought against Crystal Palace, and that contributed to his team’s 2-0 loss at Selhurst Park.
Two second-half goals from Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher ended Wolves’ five-match unbeaten run.
Playing in a side that had the physical Christian Benteke starting, it was always going to be important that Wolves stood up to the aerial challenge posed.
But Lage felt the game came down to the finest of margins and players winning those individual battles proved crucial.
Whilst admitting his side weren’t at their best, he said that his team needed to recognise the importance of winning both defensive and offensive duels, and the momentum they can bring to a game.
Speaking after the game, via the club’s official website, Lage said: “When you look at the game, we didn’t play the way we should play. I don’t think Crystal Palace played better than us, but they did things better than us.
“It was about the duels, not just the defensive duels, they won everything, the offensive duels, even the second balls.
“The game is about that, so we need to play better, we are playing better, but in the meantime, we need to understand this. The duels are important, not just the defensive, but the offensive, and today we didn’t win them.”
No player won more aerial duels than Benteke (7) during the match (WhoScored). The highest player for Wolves in that department was Romain Saiss (4).
With West Ham United to come to Molineux after the international break, Wolves will have to stand up to the test that David Moyes’ side will inevitably pose and learn from the defeat against Patrick Vieira’s side .
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