CRYSTAL Palace boss Alan Pardew felt the decision to switch Wilfried Zaha to the right flank may have been the turning point in his side’s 3-2 comeback win at Burnley.

The Clarets led 2-0 at Turf Moor thanks to goals from Ben Mee and Danny Ings.

Palace complained that Kieran Trippier’s corner for the first goal had been taken from outside the quadrant, then Pardew thought Scott Arfield had fouled Joel Ward in the build-up to the second goal as the Burnley midfielder tried to keep the ball in play.

But Pardew then switched wingers Zaha and Jason Puncheon. Zaha played a big part in the momentum of the game shifting, setting up Dwight Gayle’s goal before Puncheon equalised. Gayle struck the winner three minutes from time.

Asked if he felt switching Zaha and Puncheon was the key moment, Pardew said: “Probably, we didn’t quite get the grip of the midfield at the start. The pressure was building and the change helped us.

“I was disappointed with the first two goals, I know the ball wasn’t in the quadrant for the first goal but that’s a lame excuse, we should have done better on that goal.

“The second goal was a foul in my opinion. I think the referee and linesman were distracted by the fact of was the ball in or was the ball out and didn’t see the player just dump our defender on the pitch.

“We had to show tremendous qualities, not just fine spirit and resilience but flair and bravery to pass the ball which we did against a Burnley team that I thought was on their mettle today. There wasn’t too much between the teams.

“It was obviously crucial that we got the next goal when you’re 2-0 down, 3-0 we wouldn’t have come back.

“But we got the goal and it was game on.”