Soccer Football - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Brentford - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - December 30, 2023 Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
LONDON (Reuters) -Michael Olise struck twice as Crystal Palace beat Brentford 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday to snap an eight-game run without a win and ease the pressure on manager Roy Hodgson.
The winger scored either side of halftime, cancelling out Keane Lewis-Potter's early opener with a fine volley before doubling the hosts' lead with another good finish.
Palace climbed above Brentford into 13th on 21 points after 20 games, while defeat for the Bees – their fifth in a row – put them 15th on 19 points after 19 matches.
Hodgson hailed his players for recovering from the early goal to show both offensive ability and defensive grit.
"I thought some of the attacking play was very good and then we had to show the other side of our game towards the end," he told reporters.
Hodgson was full of praise for Olise, saying the winger performance was "a crucial one I think in helping us to get the victory".
Asked if he had felt any pressure in recent weeks, Hodgson replied: "No. I think about the match and what needs to be done.
"There's no point, you can't affect the outside noise. If the noise isn't directed at me it would be directed at somebody else because that's part and parcel of the game."
QUICK BREAK
Brentford had led inside two minutes through Lewis-Potter's second goal of the season, the forward diverting Mads Roerslev's cross into the net at full stretch after a quick break though it took three minutes for VAR to confirm the goal was not offside.
Palace levelled after 14 minutes through Olise, with his initial cross recycled by Jordan Ayew whose ball to the back post was finished by the winger from a tight angle.
Eberechi Eze gave the home side the lead six minutes before the break when he powered into the box and slotted his finish low beyond keeper Mark Flekken.
Olise doubled his tally in the 58th minute, cutting inside from the left and firing home from the edge of the box a minute after forcing a good save from Flekken.
Brentford substitute Neal Maupay – incessantly booed having played for Palace's rivals Brighton – rattled the bar and home keeper Dean Henderson had to claw out a looping ball as the Bees tried to find a way back into the game.
But Palace withstood the late pressure and deservedly took the points for only their second home league win this season.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank said he was "burning inside" after another defeat, but that he was pleased by his injury-ravaged side's performance.
"No complaints about the effort or mentality from the players," he told reporters. "I think in a lot of areas we did quite well but the decisive factor today was the quality in both boxes."
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Ken Ferris and Ed Osmond)
