'We were well beaten' - Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson praises Leeds United and makes Elland Road pitch admission

Crystal Palace head coach Roy Hodgson conceded his side were well beaten by Leeds United at Elland Road on Monday night.

The Whites moved into the top half of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over the visiting Eagles in LS11.

Jack Harrison opened the scoring after just three minutes as Marcelo Bielsa's men went on to dominate the first half of action.

United, though, were made to wait until after the break to add to the scoreline with Patrick Bamford netting his 100th career goal.

Palace mustered a slight response through playmaker Eberechi Eze and substitute Andros Townsend but were deservedly beaten by another impressive showing from Leeds - who are now 10th in the top flight standings.

Hodgson - who travelled to West Yorkshire without top scorer Wilfried Zaha - admitted his side were never really in the contest.

"We started both halves badly in terms of the goals we conceded. Both were pretty poor technical errors," Hodgson reflected post-match.

"You can't afford to go 1-0 down after three or four minutes and then 2-0 down after 50 minutes and come away with a result unless you play outstanding football but we didn't play outstanding football unfortunately.

"The bottom line for me is we didn't pass the ball anywhere near well enough and we have to accept that we lost to the better team.

"We were not able to pressurise them like they pressurised us. We are a passing team and when we don't pass the ball well we fall below our standards.

"We were deservedly beaten but we made life difficult for ourselves."

The Palace boss was also quizzed over the Elland Road playing surface and whether it had played any role in the loss.

Leeds have recently replaced the pitch at the club's home ground after complications with the drainage system following a bout of bad weather.

Although a new hybrid surface has been installed players could be seen slipping throughout the game once again.

Hodgson said afterwards it may have played a small role but wasn't the reason for the Selhurt Park outfit's defeat.

"Everything depends upon the opposition as well and we met a good team," he added.

"The pitch was difficult for both teams which doesn't help when you're the team chasing the game and trying to get back into it.

"They are maybe more used to it. It's not the reason we lost the game but it may have affected the way we were able to pass the ball which I didn't think we did well enough."