Bournemouth 2-2 Crystal Palace

Joshua King scores a late equaliser for Bournemouth

Crystal Palace will stave off relegation if they continue to perform as they did in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, believes manager Roy Hodgson.

Palace would have pulled five points clear of the Premier League drop zone had substitute Joshua King not netted a dramatic 89th-minute equaliser for the Cherries.

Instead, Hodgson's men have a three-point cushion over 18th-placed Southampton, who face Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

"It's going to be a dogfight with all the teams down there," Hodgson said.

"It can boil down to the fact that you score some lucky goals or survive some really hairy escapes.

"But if we can continue to play like that for the next five games we have to believe we can take enough points. I have confidence in the team and the team showed they have confidence in themselves."

The Eagles still have fellow strugglers Stoke and West Brom to play, but have won just once in their past 10 league matches.

The visitors took the lead early in the second half thanks to a sumptuous Luka Milivojevic free-kick, before King's fellow substitute Lys Mousset equalised with a calm finish from the edge of the area.

Hodgson's side re-established their lead on 75 minutes as Wilfried Zaha scored, only for the hosts to level again when King bundled home.

They had several opportunities to score more - chiefly from Patrick van Aanholt, who spurned a golden chance to make it 2-0 after being put clear by Zaha.

King's late leveller, though, means Bournemouth have won a league-high 18 points from losing positions and continues a remarkable run which has seen a goal scored in the 89th minute or later in each of their last seven league games.

Palace rue missed chances

Hodgson's side were just minutes away from a hugely important win but were once again left to rue missed chances.

Van Aanholt missed the best opportunity when his low effort was saved by the feet of Asmir Begovic, though there were a host of others, too.

James McArthur had a powerful early effort well blocked by Nathan Ake, and Andros Townsend was unable to create anything after latching on to a poor backpass from Marc Pugh.

Zaha squandered several chances after the break, including a free header at the back post which was easily saved by Begovic.

It is a familiar problem for the Eagles - most recently when Christian Benteke missed two simple chances in the 2-1 defeat by Liverpool last Saturday.

Hodgson will hope his side find a ruthless streak as they enter the run-in or they will be left looking over their shoulders.

Disciplined Cherries frustrate Zaha

Bournemouth wide men Ryan Fraser and Pugh worked well in tandem with their respective full-backs, much to the irritation of Zaha.

The 25-year-old is undoubtedly Palace's star man, and Eddie Howe had clearly worked with his Cherries players on the importance of keeping him quiet as in the opening 45 minutes he was rarely left alone.

The winger's frustration almost boiled over on two occasions, as he clashed with Lewis Cook in the first half, and again with Simon Francis in the second period.

But he did find space to score his fifth goal of the season, beating three men before powering home.

Man of the match - Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace)

Eagles skipper Luka Milivojevic's free-kick marked his third goal in three games, and his 10th of the season.

Bournemouth leave it late again - the key stats

• There has been a goal in the 89th minute or later in each of Bournemouth's past seven Premier League games, with five of those affecting the result.

• 45.5% of the Eagles' Premier League goals this season have come from set-piece situations, a league-high.

• Two of Bournemouth's substitutes scored, the fifth time this season a side has benefited from two substitute goals in the same Premier League game.

• Fraser has had a hand in four goals in his past five Premier League appearances at Vitality Stadium (2 goals, 2 assists).

• Milivojevic's free-kick was his third goal in as many games and he becomes the first Palace midfielder to score 10 goals in a single Premier League season.

• McArthur now has 200 Premier League appearances to his name, 117 for Crystal Palace and 83 for previous club Wigan.

'It's frustrating when you play as well as that but don't win' - what they said

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson told BBC Match of the Day: "It is frustrating when you play as well as that and don't win the game.

"The fact is they are in a happy position and they could afford to throw players forward. As a result, you do know you'll be under pressure so it's important you avoid those mistakes and take advantage of the counter-attack but we made the mistake and they got the goal.

"It's very important that the players now believe in themselves and they have to be strong mentally. It is not a fair game. It is what it is. All you can do is react to the game. We have to make certain that we produce the performances we did today."

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe: "[There's] never a dull moment. It's not good for my health but I'm sure it's the same for the supporters as well; edge-of-your-seat stuff.

"We're indebted to our goalkeeper. We waited for that chance at the end and thankfully it came to Josh.

"It's not the three points that we wanted but we stopped Palace winning. It's another point closer to where we want to be. Two defeats in 14 at this level is incredible."

What's next?

Next up for Crystal Palace is a home match with Brighton on Saturday, 14 April (15:00 BST). Later that day, Bournemouth travel to Merseyside to face Liverpool (17:30 BST).