Saturday 21 May 2016 23:56, UK
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew voiced his disappointment at a number of key decisions that went against his side during their FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United.
The Eagles were within 12 minutes of a maiden cup triumph after Jason Puncheon came off the bench to put Pardew's men in the lead.
But United hit back through Juan Mata, before Jesse Lingard struck the winner deep into extra time.
Referee Mark Clattenburg chalked off a Connor Wickham goal early on in the encounter at Wembley, pulling play back after he deemed Palace's advantage had gone following a Chris Smalling foul, before Wayne Rooney escaped punishment for a tackle on Wilfried Zaha in the area - and Pardew took exception to both decisions.
"I was really disappointed with the Connor decision because you could see he was going to get up first and the advantage was really with us," Pardew told his post-match press conference.
"He actually had a free pass [to] Zaha for a tap but he scored anyway. So to be pulled back was really harsh. I also think Rooney's tackle on Wilf was a penalty.
"Nevertheless there was enough in the first half to show our tactical plan to stop them coming through, that we worked on all week, worked for us.
"If we just had a little more assistance from the ref we might have done better in the first half. In the second half we were a lot better, a bit more composed with the ball."
Defeat consigned Pardew to a third runners-up medal in the completion after falling short as a player - against Manchester United - in 1990 and as West Ham manager in 2006.
Yet, despite missing out on title, Pardew was keen to praise the efforts of his players for their contribution to an "enthralling" final.
"The players have given me everything today," he added. "We played with heart, passion, it was a great cup final - Manchester United did the same - and it was even.
"In the tactical game plan that was being played out they had more possession, tried to get through us but couldn't and it made for an enthralling tie.
"It could have gone either way, unfortunately for us it didn't go our way."
