Football
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Neil Warnock blasts challenge on Julian Speroni at West Brom

#INSERT type:image caption:Victor Anichebe scores from the corner that saw Julian Speroni hurt by Craig Dawson's challenge. END#

Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock claimed West Brom's Craig Dawson got away with what was "almost an assault" after his challenge on Julian Speroni.

The Palace keeper was flattened by Dawson as Victor Anichebe scored to spark the recovery that saw the Baggies come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at The Hawthorns as Saido Berahino's injury-time penalty salvaged a point.

Brede Hangeland and a Mile Jedinak spot-kick had put Palace in control, but boss Warnock was left to vent his anger at the Dawson challenge, comparing it to Peter Murphy's challenge on Bert Trautmann in the 1956 FA Cup final.

That incident left the Manchester City goalkeeper with dislocations to five vertebrae in his neck and meant he missed a large part of the 1956-57 season.

Warnock said: "It's almost an assault. How is it one of the four officials can't be in a position to see that? Dawson had smashed him in the face, and I am lost for words.

"He's had a two-or three-yard run up and smashed him in the face. No wonder Julian is a bit groggy. He wanted to carry on. I've had enough talking to the FA. I have not seen something like that since Bert Trautmann.

"I can't say anything about the referee [Mark Clattenburg] or I get fined, and I don't want to because I thought he had a cracking game, but he made two or three really bad mistakes."

Clattenburg failed to give Palace a penalty before Jedinak's spot-kick when Wilfried Zaha looked to have been fouled by Dawson.

Warnock said: "You can't win -- we had four or five surrounding the referee last week and we were told that was wrong. He had a good game but two, maybe three, decisions went against us and it's cost us."

The Palace boss added that he knew nothing about speculation that billionaire American investor Josh Harris was in talks to buy the club, adding: "I will be speaking to the chairman, but you'll have to ask him."

West Brom head coach Alan Irvine, meanwhile, said he had needed to get angry with his side after a first-half no show.

"They did see another side to me, one which doesn't come out very often but has to from time to time," he explained.

"I was bitterly disappointed with the first 32 minutes of the game. We conceded the penalty on a counter-attack, but for the first 32 minutes we were awful. After that we did what we were supposed to be doing, and we eventually got a reward for that.''

He praised the contribution of Anichebe, saying: "There's no doubt Victor made a difference, and before the game I had thought we might need him."

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