BEFORE Crystal Palace played Brighton in February 2021, the then-Eagles manager Roy Hodgson called for his side to step up without the injured Wilfried Zaha.
"We must find a way of making certain it is not a case of if he does not play, we cannot win," Hodgson said. "If we want to get that monkey off our back, then we had better start winning games when Wilf is not there."
It was far from pretty, but Palace did just that. They managed only three shots compared to Brighton's 25, but a 95th-minute strike from Christian Benteke secured the ultimate smashand-grab win at the Amex.
Fast forward two years and Palace once again have the "sword of Damocles", as Hodgson put it, hanging over them before a clash with their fierce rivals. Zaha is set to miss tomorrow's game at Selhurst Park with a hamstring injury that could keep him out for the whole of February.
Esta historia es de la edición February 10, 2023 de Evening Standard.
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