Palace star Kouyate on Wolves draw: We should have won

Cheikhou Kouyate

Cheikhou Kouyate insists Crystal Palace should have beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers at Selhurst Park.

A deflected Joel Ward strike gave Palace the lead and they were in the driving seat after Romain Saiss was sent off for Wolves.

But they fluffed two gilt-edged chances and a series of mistakes in stoppage time let Wolves grab a dramatic equaliser.

Kouyate said: “We are very disappointed because we worked hard, dominated the second half and should have won two or three nil.

“But in the end we conceded one goal and it is very, very hard for us. But now what can we do? The game is finished, and we have to focus on the next one,” he said speaking to Palace TV.

“[At half-time] We said that we didn’t want to let them play the football they wanted to. This changed the game and we did very, very good in the second half.

“We thought we could score for two-zero or three-zero. After that their goal came out of nowhere. They crossed the ball and we don’t understand – it was very, very hard for us.”

The 29-year-old midfielder says the team only has themselves to blame by allowing Wolves back in the game.

He added: “It’s easy [to play against 10 men], it’s not difficult, because we had the opportunity to score the second goal. We made some mistakes and in the Premier League, if you make a mistake you pay the price.