Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew was left stunned after his side's unbelievable 5-4 defeat to Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium yesterday.

Game of the season contender

Despite taking the lead thanks to Wilfred Zaha, Palace were pulled back by a Gylfi Sigurosseon free kick, and then found themselves 3-1 down after 68 minutes. They fought back to make to make it 4-3 with six minutes of normal time to go, but two goals from Swansea substitute Fernando Llorente snatched the three points.

“It was an astonishing game really, in many aspects,” Pardew said in his post-match press conference.

“I thought we were in good control of the game, got a good goal and the referee gifted them a free kick – I thought – and momentum swung in their favour.”

“The goals were just crazy, that last 20 minutes was as crazy as I’ve ever seen, and if we can’t defend at 4-3 with 6 minutes on the clock or whatever it was then I’m afraid that’s not good enough.”

The Eagles concede three goals from set pieces against the Swans, as well as Sigurdsson’s free kick, and they have now conceded 13 from set plays this season, the highest in the Premier League.

“We just can’t seem to defend set plays. All of them I think we should do a whole lot better than we do and I’m going to have a look at that and possibly make changes,” said Pardew.

One turning point was the injury to striker Connor Wickham, and the Eagles boss acknowledged that.

“I’m not quite sure what the score line was when Connor got the injury," admitted Pardew. "It affected us because it was a bad injury, we all knew that.”

Pressure continues to rise

It’s now six defeats in a row for Palace, which has meant that pressure has begun to build on Pardew.

“That comes with the territory. The goals that we’ve concede today don’t reflect well on us. For me personally, I’ll do what I always do – reflect on this game and correct it for the next one."

“I’m certainly strong enough and have been here before, so I know how it works. In terms of myself and my team I think I’ve got good team, I’m going to get them motivated for Monday, working towards Southampton."

Palace welcome the Saints to Selhurst Park next Saturday.