Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson on Tottenham Hotspur defeat

After the fanfare of the grand opening of the new impressive ground, Hodgson’s men set about spoiling the party - and for the best part of an hour they succeeded.

Once Heung-min Son’s deflected effort hit the back of the net however, even Hodgson saw little in the hope of a comeback.

“Had we been able to keep a clean sheet for another ten, 15 minutes, then who knows?” said the manager.

“[Hugo] Lloris made two great saves but at 2-0 it gives them some comfort.

“It was always going to be a tough game with the quality they have, it was never going to be easy.

“If we had kept them out longer they would’ve had more concern for our half chances.”

Son’s strike, which took a wicked deflection off Luke Milivojevic, was eventually followed by a Christian Eriksen effort which also had an element of fortune to it.

But despite lady luck seemingly being on the new home side’s side, Hodgson admitted they were worthy winners having dominated close to 75 per cent possession.

“We played our part.

“We didn’t surrender, we [didn't] ever laid down, but at the same time, given the way they played, they deserved to win and we congratulate them in starting off on the right foot in this stadium.”

On the stadium the Palace manager was as in awe as the near 60,000 spectators in new £1 billion arena.

“It’s outstanding,” he continued.

“I can understand why there’s been so much hype around it.

“It excited, exhilarates and makes players proud to perform in it, I’m sure if you ask Mauricio [Pochettino] I’m sure he will be sharing how pleased he was.”

The defeat left Palace still looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone, but with Cardiff City and Brighton both losing on the same night they’ve not sunk further into the scrap.

That said, those results weren’t at the forefront of the manger’s mind.

“We want to stay in the league on our own efforts and not in the fact that teams around us are losing,” he said.