Pardew unhappy as Palace fall short

Crystal Palace paid the price for failing to capitalise on their early FA Cup lead against Liverpool, according to manager Alan Pardew.

Alan Pardew felt the 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Liverpool represented a missed opportunity for his Crystal Palace team.

Palace have enjoyed some memorable success over Liverpool during recent encounters at Selhurst Park and history looked set to be repeating itself when Fraizer Campbell scored a 15th-minute opener.

But Brendan Rodgers’ men proceeded to dominate long periods of the contest thereafter and, although Palace held onto their lead until half-time, goals from Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana after the break secured a quarter-final berth for the visitors.

“We probably didn’t have enough moments,” Pardew told BT Sport.

“I felt we didn’t put enough pressure on Liverpool and we really had a great chance at half-time.

“We know inside that dressing room that we should have done a bit better.

“Liverpool’s system is a problem at times – they can keep the ball, they’ve got lots of options.

“Having said that, I was disappointed in the first half. The goal kind of made us a bit negative.

“We got it so early and we kind of sat back a little bit too much.”

Pardew, who has presided over five wins in eight matches since taking charge of a club he represented as a player, also paid tribute to Liverpool’s quality throughout the match, but reflected ruefully on a wasted chance when the score was 1-0.

“They’re a tough team with technical players who ask questions,” he added.

“It’s a great first goal, almost unstoppable to a degree – great pass, great finish.

“Maybe the pivotal moment was in the first half when Dwight Gayle had a one-on-one. If he’d put that in we’d have been very difficult to beat.”