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Alan Pardew felt Marcus Rojo's 'bad' tackle deserved a red card

Alan Pardew manager of Crystal Palace was left frustrated
Image: Alan Pardew, manager of Crystal Palace, was left frustrated

Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew called Marcus Rojo's two-footed tackle 'bad' and believed he should have been sent off.

The Manchester United defender was only booked for the lunge on Wilfried Zaha in the 2-1 victory over Palace, where Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck an 88th-minute winner.

It comes just days after the Argentina international was lucky to get away with a two-footed lunge on Everton man Idrissa Gueye - a tackle which Gary Neville called "shocking".

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Crystal Palace 1-2 Man Utd

Rojo's latest two-footed lunge didn't sit well with Pardew. 

"From the sideline it did look bad," he said.

"He jumps two footed and we've been to all these meetings where that's a red card."

Pardew was also left frustrated with the decision to award United's opening goal.

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The officials failed to spot Ibrahimovic use his arm to deflect a United free-kick into the path of Paul Pogba, who converted from an offside position.

"The first goal was a call the linesman should have seen," Pardew said.

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 14:  Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2nd R) of Manchester United celebrates his team's win after the Premier League match between Crystal Pa
Image: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2nd R) of Manchester United celebrates his team's win

"I thought it was offside even from where I was standing. He refereed the game aggressively, I thought. There were a lot of fouls in the game, it could have flowed a little bit more."

The defeat leaves Pardew's men 16th in the Premier League and they've now won just one of their last 10 matches.

Despite their worrying league position, Pardew couldn't fault his players' performance levels. 

"I have to look at my team and say they were committed tonight," he said.

"We tried to make it very difficult for Man Utd. Offensively, I think we could have done a little bit better in the first half in certain situations.

James McArthur equalises for Crystal Palace
Image: James McArthur equalised for Crystal Palace

"We certainly deserved to come in 0-0, the decision was a tough one for us, a couple of bad decisions in that first half.

"Second half we had a good little spell, got a great goal and it was a shame we couldn't kick on from there.

"In the end we were undone by two of their best players and I just feel for my team because they gave me everything tonight."

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