Jordan Ayew on Crystal Palace defeat to Leicester City
Ghana forward Jordan Ayew blamed Crystal Palace’s 2-1 Premier League loss to Leicester City on a sluggish start at King Power Stadium on Sunday.
Leicester took a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Ademola Lookman and Kieran Dewsbury-Hall, before Ayew won a penalty for Wilfried Zaha to cut the deficit in the second half.
“I feel like we didn’t start the game well. It was all about the start… We paid the price and conceded two goals,” Ayew told reporters after the game as quoted by the club’s official website.
“In the second-half we were the much better team. We didn’t give up, we pushed, but we didn’t manage to come back which is the most important thing. It’s a wake-up call for us to know the importance for us to have a really good start of the game and to build on that.
“The most important thing is it happened now and not against Chelsea. Now we have one week to prepare for Chelsea and we’ll do the best we can.
“That’s the message from the manager and it was quite simple and short: it’s a good wake-up call and we prepare ourselves for the next game the best we can.”
Ayew has further described the result as “a wake-up call” as they prepare to face Chelsea in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
“It’s a wake-up call, so we need to be consistent and need to work on that. That’s what we’re trying to do; we’ve come out of a very good run and this is a wake-up call,” Ayew continued.
“The most important thing is it happened today, not next week, so we can build on this and know it’s important to have a good start to the game.”
The former Swansea City player also dwelled on the penalty, insisting it was well-deserved and that Zaha did well to score from the retake.
“I think I just did a stepover and he [Youri Tielemans] went and put his leg and caught me. It’s as simple as that,” added Ayew.
“The most important thing is he scored – that’s the most important thing and there’s nothing to complain about. He did the most important thing: put it in the back of the net.”
The FA Cup match against Chelsea will take place on April 17 at Wembley Stadium.
Ayew is determined to help Palace beat the Blues and advance to the final.
