Crystal Palace don’t have fond recent memories of Andre Marriner, particularly when it comes to matches against Liverpool.
Marriner was the referee who awarded the Reds a last-minute penalty at Selhurst Park back in March, bringing about a petition from Palace fans to get Christian Benteke banned for his part in the incident.
We hope Christian Benteke has forgiven Crystal Palace fans for their petition to get him banned https://t.co/Glok9OgsAk
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 18, 2016
The Belgian striker was on the other side of the Palace-Liverpool divide for this season’s game, having completed a big-money move to South London over the summer, but Palace boss Pardew was more concerned with the involvement of Marriner for the second straight game between the two teams.
And the ref was at the centre of things once more, turning down two penalty appeals from the home side in the space of a few seconds with the score at 3-2 to Liverpool.
The visitors ended up winning 4-2, with Roberto Firmino completing the scoring in the second half, but Pardew used his post-match interview to question why Marriner was chosen to take charge of the game.
“I don’t think Andre Marriner should have reffed this game,” Pardew said.
“He gives the penalty last year so we’ve got a negative in our mind anyway. Why has Mike Riley given him the game today? I can’t understand it.
“Then we get three penalty calls. Okay, they’re tight, but they’re probably no worse than Christian’s last year – so it’s just a little bit frustrating, that part.
“Having said that, Liverpool are a bloody good team and we found it difficult at times”
The defeat was Palace’s third on the spin, and leaves the Eagles 12th in the table.
They could yet end the weekend as low as 14th, depending on the results of Everton v West Ham and Stoke v Swansea.
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