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Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was coy when asked about the referee's display in his side's 2-1 loss to Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace, instead pinpointing his side's inability to break into the top four his main annoyance. "I don't want to speak about the referee," he said. "I think it is a very difficult job, but it is true the penalty decision changed the atmosphere. Tottenham took the lead early in the second half when in-form forward Harry Kane dragged a well-placed shot across Palace keeper Julian Speroni and into the far corner. Spurs' advantage was then erased 20 minutes later on Dwight Gayle's converted penalty, which set up the final punch in the 80th minute when Jason Puncheon's strike gave Pardew's men the three points. Things could have been different, though, had referee Anthony Taylor awarded Kane a late penalty after being taken down by Joe Ledley -- the player adjudged, somewhat controversially, to have been brought down by Benjamin Stambouli for Gayle's equaliser. "Maybe after we suffered a little bit," the Tottenham boss said. "Crystal Palace believed they can come to get the three points. "A lot of long balls came in and I think that in this challenge they wanted it more than us. "We are disappointed with the result and we lost a good opportunity to stay with the top four." Spurs' next Premier League fixture is a home match against Sunderland on Jan. 17. Information from PA Sport was used in this report.
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