Alan Pardew said his side were unlucky to concede a crucial penalty as Crystal Palace were defeated 1-0 by Chelsea, who were crowned Premier League champions.

The only goal of the game came just before half time when Eden Hazard went down - arguably a little easily - in the penalty area while challenging for the ball with James McArthur and Adrian Mariappa.

The resulting spot kick - taken by the Belgian - was saved by Julian Speroni, but he could only parry the ball back out and Hazard expertly headed home.

The game had been very much in the balance up until that point, and although Chelsea were improved in the second half, the Eagles were unfortunate not to get more from it.

Speaking about the penalty decision after the match, Pardew said: "I asked the referee at half time and (he) said it was an absolute definite penalty Alan, don't know what you're asking for, so he obviously thought it was.

"But it's a bad piece of luck really because it's kind of questionable - I can see the referee at that speed giving that penalty - but then they get another break when he misses it and it goes straight to him.

"I think it was a nice break, but if it had happened the other way for us I wouldn't be sitting here complaining.

"We also felt that Punch's shot is blocked by John Terry's body and hand and he could have given a penalty for that."

Jason Puncheon had Crystal Palace's best chance of the game when his fierce shot from inside the penalty area was blocked by Terry, but Palace struggled to create many more clear-cut opportunities against a Chelsea side that proved difficult to break down.

The Palace fans carried on where Arsenal fans left off last weekend, with chants of "boring, boring Chelsea" in response to the Blues' conservative approach, but Pardew praised their performance.

He said: "They kept the ball, they frustrated us, they didn't commit players forward, made it difficult for us to break them down - that's what champions do.

"They don't let you back in when they get the lead and that's why they continue to do the job in each scenario and game they come to. 

"They've had two defeats this year, that says it all."

He added: "If we'd got the first goal it might have been a different afternoon - but the penalty decision for them really put them in the driving seat.

"I'm just a little bit disappointed we didn't capitalise a little bit more in the last 15 minutes when I thought they were a bit nervous."

Talking of his decision to leave club captain Mile Jedinak out of the starting line-up, Pardew explained he needed to rotate the squad in order to decide which players stay and go in the summer.

He said: "I know exactly what he (Jedinak) can do but I do need to find out one or two others before the end of the season because I need to make some decisions on futures. 

"So Mariappa got a game today, Joe Ledley got another game in midfield, and these are players that I need to see and understand if they can cope with scenarios.

"I thought they all did very well today."