An 87th minute goal from Connor Wickham, allowed by a VAR review, earned Crystal Palace a 1-1 draw at bottom club Norwich City, a bitter blow for the struggling Canaries.
On a day when fellow strugglers Aston Villa, West Ham, Watford and Southampton all enjoyed vital wins, dropping two points was a bitter start to the year for promoted Norwich.
Daniel Farke's side are rock bottom on 14 points, seven points adrift of 17th placed Aston Villa and need a radical upturn in form to reach safety.
The side bottom of the Premier League going into a new year has been relegated in 23 of the previous 27 seasons and Norwich are winless in eight games with just one victory in 16 matches.
Norwich had led after a fourth minute goal from Todd Cantwell and dominated for large stretches but were unable to add to their tally -- Kenny McLean hitting the bar in the 73rd minute.
But Palace drew level when Wilfried Zaha slid a pass across the face of the goal to Wickham who slid the ball home, only to see the offside flag raised.
However a VAR review ruled that Wickham was just onside when the ball was played and reversed referee Jon Moss's decision.
It was the latest VAR blow for Norwich who had a Teemu Pukki goal overturned in their 2-2 draw with Spurs on Saturday.
"It is unbelievably disappointing to concede in the 88th minute and it feels like a loss," said Farke.
"The lads deserved the three points but the reality is only one.
"We cannot influence the other results. We have to come as close to 40 points and it is a long road. It would have been a massive step today so feels even more disappointing to concede the late goal," added the German.
Palace boss Roy Hodgson felt his side had been rewarded for their approach in the second half.
"It was very close (for the goal). You think it might be offside and with the technology you see someone has stuck a foot out, leaned forward and the margins are fine," he said.
"We looked like we could score a goal but couldn't. We took chances in the end with 4-2-4 and got our reward, the boldness of the move paid off," he said.
Palace are in ninth place on 28 points.
(Reporting by Simon Evans, Editing by William Maclean and Pritha Sarkar)
