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Ryan: I couldn't be prouder of the boys

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Maty Ryan hailed a terrific all-round performance from Albion against Crystal Palace last night, and says their lack of a clinical edge in front of goal was the only disappointing aspect of a fine display in south London.

By James Hilsum • 17 December 2019

By Paul Hazlewood
Maty Ryan recently reached 100 games for the club.

The Seagulls played some superb free-flowing football throughout the 90 minutes, and the Australian shot-stopper said it was a joy to watch his team-mates play so well.

He said, “Given the performance, the only criticism is that we didn’t come away with three points. In a few games this season, we’ve been the dominant side, but haven’t come away with the win.

“That’s my only criticism, but I’m so proud of the boys and the performance we put in. Being back there and seeing the football that we played was a pleasure to see.

“They had very few openings, and [Wilfried] Zaha had a couple of opportunities where he started to look dangerous, but we thwarted that again. We then showed him onto his left foot once and he took his goal very well.”

Albion had a penalty shout turned down after Martin Montoya appeared to be clipped by Jairo Reidewald’s inside the box, and despite a VAR check, only a corner was awarded. 

02:07

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Highlights: Crystal Palace 1 Albion 1

Ryan admitted he was quietly confident about the chance of a spot-kick being awarded due to the length of time it took to make the decision.

“I haven’t seen anything yet. In real life, I was a long way away, but the guy had a kick at him before he [Montoya] got the shot in.

“I was quite hopeful that VAR was going to result in that, and with them taking so long to look at it, I thought there could’ve been a chance of getting a penalty.

“As the rule states, it’s got to be clear and obvious. Over the course of the season, you get some decisions that go your way and some that don’t.”

02:58

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Potter's Palace verdict

Sheffield United are Albion’s next opponents on Saturday, and Ryan praised the Blades for an impressive start to the season ahead of this weekend’s clash at the Amex.

“We haven’t looked too closely at them yet because our mind was on this job, but they are deserving of their place in the table at the moment.

“It’s going to be a tough contest and we’ve got to turn the Amex into a fortress. We have to use everything in our advantage there to go and get a result.

“We’ll take a lot of confidence from this game with Crystal Palace, and hopefully we can put a performance that can get us a win on Saturday.”

Christmas cracker at the Amex!