Pardew laments Palace nerves in painful Liverpool loss

(Reuters) - Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew was left shell-shocked by his team's mental fragility after 10-man Liverpool rallied for a 2-1 victory at Selhurst Park on Sunday to stretch the home side's winless run in the Premier League to 12 games. Joe Ledley gave Palace the lead against the Merseysiders, who then had James Milner sent off, but Pardew's hopes of a first win since December were dashed when goalkeeper Alex McCarthy's scuffed clearance gifted Roberto Firmino an equaliser. "(The error) affected us and made us nervous," Pardew told British media after the game. "We haven't won for a while and that compounded it. When you're struggling for a win in the league, you have to react well to that. "One or two didn't, if I'm honest. The way the game unfolded was not good for us." Palace stood off Liverpool after going ahead and the visitors sealed the win after Christian Benteke converted a soft penalty deep into stoppage time after the Belgian striker went down under the faintest of contacts from Damien Delaney. Pardew vehemently disagreed with the decision but did not absolve his players from blame for the dropped points. "It was really disappointing after we scored," he added. "I'm frustrated with the referee and with us at how we didn't push on. We never pushed on, that was the biggest down side." The result left Palace 15th in the table, nine points clear of relegation, while Liverpool moved up to seventh, six points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City. (Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)