Roy Hodgson refused to blame goalkeeper Julian Speroni after Crystal Palace were beaten 4-3 by Liverpool in the Premier League.
Speroni, 39, was making his first appearance in over a year due to injuries to Wayne Hennessey and Vicente Guaita.
While he was largely untroubled in the first half, he made an error for Liverpool's third goal that saw them retake the lead after James Tomkins had made it 2-2.
Hodgson described the goal as the "the cruelty of football showing itself as its absolute most wicked."
He added: "There aren't many better club servants than Julian Speroni at any football club in the world. For him to make that kind of mistake was really unfortunate and put Liverpool undeservedly back in the lead. We've got to consider ourselves hard done by in that respect."
Palace had taken the lead in the first half through Andros Townsend, only to quickly concede twice after half-time.
Both goals had an element of fortune to them, and Hodgson said: "I'm very proud of the team. We conceded some really unfortunate goals.
"The first one is a shot from 45 yards that loops in the air and Mohamed Salah can touch it past the goalkeeper. The second goal takes a deflection and the fourth shouldn't be allowed because there's a clear handball.
"I thought we played extremely well and I'm proud of the performance, I'm disappointed for the boys that they've got nothing to show for their efforts."
Hodgson also said it was a case of "deja vu" for Palace.
"There's been so many games this season where we've taken encouragement and we've played far better than the result has shown," Hodgson said.
"It's a deja vu situation so I can't be terribly satisfied at the moment. That disappoints me more than anything - I should be extremely satisfied and should be happy and delighted, but the fact we've lost 4-3 dents that bubble for me."