Pardew rues Coquelin 'red'

London - Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew was left to rue what might have been against Arsenal after seeing his side go down 2-1 on Sunday.

Pardew's side fought bravely to defend wave after wave of attacks from Arsenal before a controversial decision from referee Lee Mason.

Mason decided against sending off Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin before the half time.

The Arsenal midfielder went unpunished despite making several crunching challenges while already on a booking.

"The foul before half-time is debatable but then he makes another foul after half-time and he should have gone. There was an immediate reaction because they took him off," Pardew said.

"Arsenal were sharp and bright. They were a lot more intelligent in their passing than against West Ham, but we had better shape as the match went on and it might have been a different result if we'd got the second goal."

Crystal Palace host Aston Villa on Saturday as they look to bounce back from defeat.

The match kicks off at 16:00.