Alan Pardew: Yannick Bolasie nearly came off before goal at Arsenal

Alan Pardew paid tribute to Yannick Bolasie but admitted the Crystal Palace winger was nearly substituted before his equaliser against Arsenal on Sunday.

Bolasie scored his first Palace goal since November to earn his side a 1-1 draw at the Emirates.

Alexis Sanchez had given the Gunners a first-half lead, and Pardew revealed he almost took his goalscorer off before his 81st-minute leveller.

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"It was a big goal," Pardew told Sky Sports. "He looked affected a little bit and I was thinking about taking him off, if I'm being honest, because we have a lot of offensive players.

"But he's so important to us and I thought one moment could lift him, and I think that moment will lift him because it was a great goal.

"You could argue that Petr [Cech] should save it, but it's a great hit and I'm so pleased for him. That will definitely give him a major boost."

There was not much between the sides when Sanchez edged Arsenal ahead in first-half stoppage time.

A subdued Emirates atmosphere turned on the home side after Bolasie's equaliser and Palace had the chance to steal a winner on the break with Wilfried Zaha.

Pardew hailed the efforts of his players after the game, and said his strategy went to plan.

"They [the players] deserve tremendous credit because it's tough to play here," Pardew continued. "We had a game-plan that was to start slow and not let them have a fast start, and then build as the game went, and we did.

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"In the end, Wilf went on an amazing run and we almost had the chance to win it. We didn't deserve that, but we had a good strategy to us and the guys were terrific.

"I was a bit disappointed to concede the goal just before half-time, but we had not retained the ball well enough. Having said that, we made sure they didn't get into fourth or fifth gear.

"Sometimes when you come to places like this, that is what you have to do. We kept them in third gear, and they came out in the same gear in the second half, and we knew we could get better."

The draw moves Palace eight points clear of 17th-place Norwich, and Pardew said he wants a strong finish to the season after flirting with relegation.

"With our goal difference it means two of those clubs have to get 40 points, and I think they would snap our hands off for 40 points because that's a difficult total with the games they have remaining," he added.

"There is still a long way to go, and we have ourselves in touching distance of mid-table, which is where I think we belong, but we have to prove that."