Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira admitted his side needed to learn to win ugly after losing at home to West Ham United on New Year’s Day.
The visitors raced to a 3-0 lead before half-time before Palace scored two late goals to make for an entertaining finish and, while undoubtedly disappointing, they showed flashes of real quality in the absence of key trio Conor Gallagher, Cheikhou Kouyate and Wilfried Zaha.
Under the Frenchman’s stewardship, Palace have been praised for adapting to a rapid-fire rebuild after so long under Roy Hodgson, although Vieira conceded that simply playing well was not enough.
“It’s really difficult because I think we played some good football and created a number of chances to win that game,” he told Sky Sports after the final whistle.
“We’re really disappointed because I think, today, we were the better team.
“The difference between the two sides is that they’ve been building a team for a couple of years now and this is a mature team so I think their experience allowed them to win.
“At times, we were a little naïve.
“We created chances where we were unlucky as well because I think we had the best first chances and we hit the post but we have to learn from these games.
“We have to improve because playing well is not good enough to win football matches.”
