Jefferson Lerma admitted the feeling of scoring his first Crystal Palace goal was tempered by the defeat to Chelsea – but also felt his team's performance marked an improvement.
The Colombian set Selhurst Park into a frenzy with half-an-hour played on Monday evening, dispossessing Moisés Caicedo and smashing the ball into the top corner from range to record the Eagles’ 1000th top-flight goal – and his first for the club.
But Chelsea surged back in the second-half and, after Conor Gallagher had equalised, claimed all three points with a pair of late goals.
Reflecting on his goal, Lerma told Premier League Productions: “Well, personally I am very happy for my first goal with the Crystal Palace - it was very nice.
“That goal reminds me of one I scored in Spain [for Levante against Mallorca in October 2016]. So, now I'm going to enjoy that, and God willing, there will be more positives in the next games.
“I have been trying [to score] for a while! Unfortunately it has not been possible, but today was the perfect moment. Unfortunately, at this point, I am sad with the result, but I look at the positives, and think that tomorrow I have another chance to do greater things.
“There’s a lot of frustration with how the game ended, because we competed very well up until 85 minutes, but in the last minutes we lost everything. I think it's sad, but tomorrow we have a chance to work, correct it, and go for the three points in the next game.”
Despite a by-and-large positive performance, Palace were unable to pick up a third straight home league win, with Lerma adding: “We are a team. The situation is a bad moment for everyone. We have to stay united. We will move forward, and we will see.
“We are still strong, we are still positive, and God willing, tomorrow or the next game, we can do things in the best possible way to start to reverse the situation. We know that we are getting closer, but the situation depends on us.”
