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Sam Allardyce questions referee's bravery after failing to send off Victor Wanyama

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Sam Allardyce praised his side's effort and felt they had deserved at least a point if it weren't for a piece of magic from Christian Eriksen

Sam Allardyce felt referee Jon Moss "wasn’t brave enough" to send off Victor Wanyama in Crystal Palace's 1-0 defeat to Tottenham.

Christian Eriksen's late stunner for Spurs kept their title hopes alive, but the game could have taken a different direction when Wanyama lunged in on Andros Townsend in the first-half.

Wanyama - already on a booking - slid in and got nowhere near the ball as Townsend nicked the ball past him.

The contact was minimal but referee Moss decided to issue one final warning to the midfielder before he was substituted at half-time.

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Mauricio Pochettino felt his side fully deserved their win over Crystal Palace and has challenged them to maintain the pressure on Chelsea

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp believed Wanyama should've seen red - and Allardyce agreed, claiming Moss was influenced by the game being live on TV.

"The second one was worse than the first, so that's Jon Moss being kind to Wanyama," Allardyce said.

"Pochettino was very clever substituting him at half-time. The referees see it as they see it. I think he made the wrong decision. With it being on the TV - I don't think he was brave enough, personally. We have to live with that."

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Although they failed to create any clear-cut chances, Palace arguably shaded the first half as Tottenham failed to get into their rhythm.

Christian Eriksen celebrates scoring the opening goal
Image: Christian Eriksen celebrates scoring the opening goal

Spurs improved after the break but Allardyce thought that was more down to the visitors being fresher than the hosts due to having an extra day of rest following the weekend's fixtures.

"It was an outstanding effort from the players," he said.

"The odds were stacked against them tonight after they were given less time to recover against an exceptionally good side. Our application and the way the players applied themselves was outstanding. It was a hell of game we gave Tottenham in the first half - it was end to end, nip and tuck.

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Harry Kane says it was a tough game, but that made victory 'perfect' for Tottenham against Crystal Palace

"Tottenham came into the game in the second half because of the lack of recovery time compared to us. That told in the end and we couldn't hold on to what would have been a valuable 0-0."

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