Crystal Palace keeper Julian Speroni believes referee Craig Pawson rushed his decision to send off Damian Delaney during Saturday’s narrow 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Selhurst Park.

Chelsea took an early lead through Oscar, but the real talking points came later in the first half.

Wandsworth Times:

Speroni is beaten by Oscar's early effort

Cesar Azpilicueta was dismissed five minutes before the break for a rash two-footed lunge on Mile Jedinak.

However, the Eagles’ numerical advantage didn’t last long as three minutes later Damian Delaney was shown a  second yellow for an innocuous looking foul on Loic Remy (below).

Wandsworth Times:

It was a decision which left Speroni frustrated as the hosts were denied a golden opportunity of repeating last season’s heroics when they beat their more illustrious London rivals 1-0.  

The Palace stopper explained: “It looked like a soft red card for me but he was on a yellow and he forced the referee into making a decision.

“After they had a man sent off the referee will sometimes make a decision a little earlier than they should.

“We could have taken advantage of that situation but that is football - sometimes fate takes away those possibilities.

“The manager wasn’t happy with the performance of the referee but that is football and we just need to bounce back next week.”

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