Crystal Palace punished by a decision the officials ‘wanted to give’, says Damien Delaney

Heated: Delaney (left) and Scott Dann argue with Andre Marriner
Getty
Giuseppe Muro7 March 2016

Crystal Palace were left with a burning sense of injustice but Damien Delaney is confident they will not be dragged into a relegation battle.

Alan Pardew accused Christian Benteke of diving to earn the stoppage-time penalty that condemned his struggling side to another defeat.

Palace still have a nine-point cushion to the bottom three but they are giving hope to the teams below them.

They are now without a win in 12 Premier League games, stretching back to mid-December and their plight is a source of deep concern among their supporters.

The award of Liverpool’s penalty left Pardew furious and also reignited the debate about whether video technology should be introduced to help referees.

Andre Marriner initially awarded a goal-kick when Benteke tumbled under slight contact from Delaney, before his assistant Scott Ledger flagged for a spot-kick.

Delaney believes the officials got the decision wrong but he has urged Palace to pick themselves up and use yesterday as a turning point in their season.

“It is a big, big decision so late so late in the game,” said the defender.

“You have got to be 100 per cent sure that it is a penalty and there is no way the assistant could have been 100 per cent sure.

“He gave it so quickly. He was flagging before Benteke had even hit the ground.

“It looked like he could not wait to give it. It looked like he wanted to give it. It sums us up at the minute.

“We have a nine-point cushion to the bottom three. It is not ideal but we have just got to get on with it. It is a big gap. There are a lot of teams involved in it.

“All of them would need to go on a hell of a run. The way we are playing it has to turn for us.”

Palace were in a position to move clear of trouble when Joe Ledley put them ahead at the start of the second half and James Milner was then sent off for Liverpool. But an error from goalkeeper Alex McCarthy allowed Roberto Firmino to equalise and Benteke condemned Palace to an eighth defeat in 10 Premier League games.

Palace had dominated before the red card but they lost their way against 10 men.

Delaney said: “We are almost asking ourselves what we have to do to win a game.

“That is probably the best we have played for a long time. But there is not much we can do about it now so we have to draw a line under it and move on.”

Benteke felt the touch from Delaney had justified the award of a penalty and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted the decision was a correct one.

“If you run and you get this touch, you fall down. Try it,” he said. “Both things touched him. With the knee and with the foot. In my opinion, there was more than enough of a touch.”

The incident came at the end of a week in which new FIFA president Gianni Infantino said video technology in football is inevitable.

A trial of the use of video referees for “game-changing decisions” is set to begin no later than the 2017-18 season.

The trial will be designed to help referees make decisions relating to goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identities.

In Pictures: Crystal Palace vs Liverpool

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But that does not help Pardew, who must now lift his side for their FA Cup quarter-final at Championship side Reading on Friday.

The good news for Palace is that none of the teams in the bottom four look capable of putting together a run that could pull them into trouble.

The bad news is that their next two Premier League fixtures are against leaders Leicester at home on March 19 and at in-form West Ham on April 2.

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