We didn’t start the game well against Leicester City – Striker Jordan Ayew

Palace striker Jordan Ayew has reacted to his team’s 2-1 defeat against Leicester City in the English Premier League. He blamed the defeat on a slow start from the Eagles.

Palace fell behind in the 39th minute when Nigeria international Ademola Lookman scored for Leicester after being set up by Kieran Dewsbury-Hall.

Dewsbury-Hall then extended the score in the 45th minute, before Ivory Coast international Wilfried Zaha cut the deficit in the 65th minute from the penalty spot after Ayew was tripped by Youri Tielemans.

Speaking to Crystal Palace website Jordan Ayew said despite their slow start the team was better 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,”

“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.”

Jordan Ayew has also characterized the defeat as a “wake-up call” as they prepare to play Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.

“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 30-year-old striker praised teammate Zaha for scoring the penalty for the team.

“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.”