Alan Pardew proud of Crystal Palace performance in defeat to Man City

Alan Pardew praised his Crystal Palace side's performance as they suffered a late defeat to Manchester City.

A last-gasp strike from Kelechi Iheanacho gave City the three points but Pardew felt his side gave the league leaders a better game than when they beat them at Selhurst Park last season.

"It is (hard to take) but its football, they kept us at bay in the second-half and did a better job on us," he said.

"I'm very proud of the performance we put in, when we beat them last year it wasn't as good as this, it wasn't as close as this. Sometimes the goals can mask the game.

"Today it was a really tight, first v second game - that's what it looked like from the sidelines. It was a great performance from us and obviously at the end to suffer that type of goal was really hurting.

"But we'll get over it and we'll bounce back."

The former Newcastle boss also took time to mention the fans who created a raucous atmosphere once again.

"What an atmosphere we create here. You have to take your hat off to our fans, it was brilliant," Pardew added.

"We've got exciting players and they had their moments, I thought in the first-half it was even.

"You're talking about world-class players on the pitch for Man City so we've taken a step forward and we need to stay there, even though we've suffered the disappointment of that goal."

The result means Palace have lost two home games already this season - albeit against Arsenal and City - but Pardew insisted that Selhurst Park will become a fortress under this group of players.

He said: "We've had tough games at home. It's not really the ideal start to make your place a fortress but it will become one. This team is going to win a lot of games here, no doubt about that."