Steven Gerrard felt Aston Villa took a step backwards during Saturday’s Premier League loss against Crystal Palace.
The head coach watched his team make the perfect start at Selhurst Park when Ollie Watkins fired home his first of the season.
But the visiting Villans were left empty-handed following a brace from Wilfried Zaha, including a hotly debated penalty, and a goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta.
“It’s a step backwards on the back of last week,” he said.
“We started this game really well, got ourselves in front, scored a really good goal and it was the perfect start for us. We looked dangerous going forward but we didn’t keep the lead for long enough.
“We allowed Crystal Palace back into the game. The game was in the balance for an hour and then there was a big, big decision that went against us with the penalty.
“We didn’t react well enough to going 2-1 down. We were really unlucky that when the goalkeeper’s made a fantastic save, they get the follow-up. I think the penalty’s really harsh on us.
“For large parts of this game we were well in it at a tough place. The game’s run away from us. In big moments we haven’t defended well enough, and we’ve been punished.”
Villa picked up a first victory of the season against Everton last weekend, showing a level of control on the game that was missing in south London.
Gerrard laid out what he wants to see from the team in away games moving forward after they came up empty in consecutive road trips.
He said: “I want them to stick together more. I want them to be harder to play against.
“I want them to be diligent with the information that we’re giving them in terms of out of possession. I want them to run hard and win duels.
“We were second best in too many departments today.”