‘A very good student’ – Palace boss Hodgson hails Eze after brace against Bournemouth

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson hailed Eberechi Eze after the attacker’s brace secured a 2-0 win for the Eagles over Bournemouth on Saturday.

Palace took the lead before half-time after a well-worked move down the left-hand side saw Wilfried Zaha spins three Bournemouth players and drill a cross into Jordan Ayew.

The Ghanaian attacker flicked the ball through to Eberechi Eze, who planted the ball beyond Neto to open the scoring.

Palace doubled their lead in the 58th minute when Michael Olise switched the ball out wide to Eze. The Greenwich-born playmaker cut inside on the right foot and thumped an effort from the edge of the box into the top right-hand corner.

“It’s what Eze has added to his game, not what we have added to his game,” Hodgson said of Eze.

“All we can do is try use his talents to the full and get him into positions where he can showcase those talents.

“And persuade him there are certain things he needs to do to get into those positions. Not only offensively, but defensively too.

“He’s a very good student in that respect – he’s very keen to pick up on any information he’s given.

“He deserves a lot of credit.”

The win moved Palace on to 43 points.

“We won it with a lot of margin to spare and a lot of very, very good individual performances and a very good team performance,” added Hodgson.

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD