Fears Wilfried Zaha has played final match for Crystal Palace as devastated star forced off in tears with injury
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INJURED Wilfried Zaha may have played his last match for Crystal Palace after limping off in tears.
The playmaker pulled his groin as he stretched for the ball at the end of the first half at Selhurst Park.
The Ivory Coast playmaker – who is out of contract this summer – was very emotional as he headed towards the dressing room during this 2-1 win over Leicester City.
New Palace boss Roy Hodgson admits he does not know if Zaha will be available again this season as the Eagles try to avoid being sucked into a relegation dogfight.
Hodgson said: “I’m certainly concerned but I have no idea.
“Muscle strains can be long jobs. If we’re very lucky it might not be as long as that. I just have to wait and trust the physios.
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“If I know one thing is that he is a quick healer, he doesn’t like to be off the field of play.
“If anyone’s going to get over it quickly it would be him, but we have to see firstly how bad it is.”
Thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s stoppage-time winner, Hodgson had a celebratory return to football management in his second spell with Palace.
The 75-year-old said: “That was a fantastic way to win a game and I’m not just talking about the fact it was a last-minute goal.
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“The way the team played throughout the 94 minutes was worthy of a lot of credit. The scoreline certainly doesn’t flatter us.”
Leicester dropped into the bottom three of the Premier League following a sixth defeat in seven matches.
Foxes chiefs Brendan Rodgers said: “It’s a really sore one that’s for sure.
“In the first half, we defended well, but we didn’t play well.
“We had to adjust to get more possession, quick possession and to be fair the first 15 minutes of the second half, we were excellent.
“We were still fighting, we were still resilient and it looks like by the end it will be a point.
“To concede right at the death and with no time to come back, it’s a really painful one.”
