Saturday 31 March 2018 16:03, UK
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson lamented his side's failure to again hold on to a lead after watching Liverpool come from behind to win 2-1 at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Palace, struggling to avoid relegation, led at half-time thanks to Luka Milivojevic's 13th-minute penalty, with the home team looking well placed to record a vital three points.
However, as in recent home matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Man Utd, Palace could not hold on as Liverpool hit back through Sadio Mane and, late on, Mo Salah.
"A little bit of Groundhog Day when we play against these top teams," said Hodgson.
"We played quite well in the second half I thought, we controlled the ball better and created the better chances ourselves.
"But unfortunately we also conceded the two goals in that half, which would have seemed more likely in the first half when they had a lot of possession and put us under a lot of pressure.
"So it is a very disappointing day again. During the course of the second half at 1-1, I really did think we were at least going to hold that and possibly even score the winning goal.
"But for them to get the winning goal so close to the end of the game is tough to take."
Liverpool were fortunate not to finish the game with 10 men after Mane - who had already been booked for simulation in the first half - clearly handled the ball on the ground after giving away a free kick on the hour-mark.
However, referee Neil Swarbrick decided not to book the Senegal forward, who was immediately substituted by manager Jurgen Klopp.
His opposite number, though, refused to criticise the official after the full-time whistle.
"I do not really like spending my time talking about refereeing decisions and what is right and what is wrong," said Hodgson. "That is all part of the game as far as I am concerned.
"The ref did not give the second yellow card and it did not affect my concentration on what was going on in the field in the last 20-25 minutes of the game.
"And the fact is that there is no guarantee that playing against 10 men will make life that much easier for anyway."
Palace may well have taken something from the match had Christian Benteke had his striking boots on, only for the Belgian forward to spurn two presentable second-half openings.
"What happens in the penalty area is always the difference between games, that is always the case in football and always will be," was Hodgson's view of his player's profligacy in front of goal.
"So we do regret those two chances and I thought we had a few other situations where they were defending quite desperately, especially towards the end of the game."
