Crystal Palace 1-1 Newcastle United

Ciaran Clark's foul on Christian Benteke handed Crystal Palace a second-half penalty

Manager Rafael Benitez felt Newcastle were victims of a "soft penalty" decision as fellow strugglers Crystal Palace came from behind to earn a draw.

Mohamed Diame had turned home Kenedy's corner at the back post midway through the first half for the visitors.

But Luka Milivojevic earned Palace a point with a second half penalty after Ciaran Clark was penalised for pulling Christian Benteke's shirt.

"He was pushing my player and my player was pulling," said Benitez.

"We cannot do it, but I can see a lot of penalties not given. We then changed everything because obviously they had more confidence and they were pushing, we knew that they have very good players up front. We needed to be strong in defence and it was difficult."

Former Newcastle striker and manager Alan Shearer also questioned the penalty decision on Twitter.

"If that's a penalty then there should be 10 penalties per game," he wrote.

But speaking on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, former Premier League striker Steve Claridge felt the decision was much clearer.

"You can just see the shirt being pulled. Yes, it's a penalty. It's a definite pull on the shirt. Absolutely. A stupid, stupid thing for Clark to do."

The point lifted Palace up to 14th, with Newcastle remaining 16th but a point clear of 18th-placed Stoke.

"It will have to be sufficient for me," said Palace manager Roy Hodgson. "The referee gave the penalty and I am just happy we scored it this time - the rules of the game prevent people from pulling shirts."

Daylight for Palace

It probably should have been all three points for the home side who had more than 62% of the possession and 14 shots in the second half.

Palace had also started strongly and Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow had to be alert to save from Wilfried Zaha and Benteke in the first half.

Crystal Palace have been awarded six penalties in the Premier League this season, with five of those coming at Selhurst Park

But they will have to settle for a three-point cushion above the relegation zone with 12 games remaining after Milivojevic's fourth goal in eight games.

"The way we were playing in the first half I would certainly have taken (a point). After watching the second half and watching us dominate the game as we did, I feel we were unlucky not to have got all three points in the end because our second half performance merited that," said Palace manager Hodgson.

"It's a point that doesn't help either of us enormously but we've just got to make sure that when we can't win, we draw."

Palace have lost only three of their 17 league matches since a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle in the reverse fixture in October.

And with that turnaround coinciding with Hodgson's arrival in September, it is the first time Palace have enjoyed clear daylight above the bottom three.

But despite being fouled for the penalty, Benteke has now failed to score in all 11 of his league appearances at Selhurst Park this season.

The Belgium striker did, though, provide a constant threat against the Magpies and was only denied breaking that home drought by Clark's 89th-minute block.

Benteke also linked up well with his teammates, and with new signing Alexander Sorloth an unused substitute, the striker clearly remains a key element in Palace's survival bid having scored in the midweek draw with West Ham.

Backs to the wall for Newcastle

Newcastle had to dig deep to avoid what would have been just a second defeat in six games, with the visitors indebted to goalkeeper Darlow and defender Clark.

Clark was at fault for the penalty with a clear tug on Benteke spotted by the assistant referee, but equally his block from the Belgium striker ultimately secured what could be a crucial point at the end of the season.

Newcastle's opener was slightly against the run of play as Ayoze Perez applied a crucial touch to help Kenedy's corner on for Diame to sweep home.

"We did well coming here and getting one point. We were controlling the game in the first half, the three offensive players they have, we did well in defence," said Newcastle manager Benitez.

"We had a couple of chances and the counter attack early in the second half could have changed everything. We needed to defend a little bit better."

Diame's finish was Newcastle's first goal in the opening 45 minutes since the now departed Henri Saivet found the net at West Ham on 23 December.

Newcastle could have gone 2-0 up just before half-time as Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey blocked from the lively Kenedy on his second appearance for the club, before making a flying save to turn away Perez's effort not long after.

Newcastle did not have a touch of the ball inside the Crystal Palace penalty area in the entire second half

But from that point in the 32nd minute until a late flourish, Newcastle did not register a shot at the Palace goal.

New signing Islam Slimani was not selected due to an ongoing thigh injury, while striker Dwight Gayle has now not scored in his last 14 league appearances.

Missed opportunity for Palace - what they said

Crystal Palace goalscorer Luka Milivojevic: "Honestly I'm not happy with the point, after all the chances that we created and missed, in my opinion we deserved two (more) points."

Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow: "First half we were very good and had a lot of chances, played some good football, second half they came back at us and we did well to hold on to a draw.

"We've shown we have got a lot of fight and can hopefully get out of this relegation battle.

"It was a sloppy five, 10 minutes from myself that could have been better. We have a lot of grit and desire and will go to the very end."

Man of the match - James McArthur (Crystal Palace)

James McArthur played a central role for Crystal Palace with a hard-working display

Milivojevic is spot on - key stats

• Crystal Palace have lost just once in their last 10 home Premier League games.

• Newcastle have collected just two points in their last eight away Premier League games in the month of February.

• Luka Milivojevic is Crystal Palace's top scorer in the Premier League this season with six goals, and the Serb has netted five goals in his last 10 appearances in the competition.

• Only Andy Johnson with 11 has scored more Premier League penalties for Crystal Palace than Milivojevic.

• Palace have conceded the opening goal of the game in 17 different Premier League games this season, no team has conceded the first goal more often.

• Seven of Newcastle's 24 Premier League goals this season have been scored via corners, the highest percentage in the division.

• Only Everton with seven have taken more penalties in the Premier League this season than Palace, and no side have conceded more penalties than Newcastle with five.

What's next?

Crystal Palace travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton on Saturday (15:00 GMT), while Newcastle have an extra day to prepare for the visit of Manchester United to St James' Park (14:15 GMT).