'There's no magician' - can Palace stop the slide?

Just 254 days ago Crystal Palace were flying high.

Captain Marc Guehi held the FA Cup aloft at Wembley - the club's first major trophy after upsetting Manchester City in the final - and Oliver Glasner was already making plans for a European campaign.

But so much has changed since that glorious afternoon.

Match-winner Eberechi Eze was sold to Arsenal in the summer, Guehi moved to Manchester City, while Glasner himself announced he will be leaving when his contract expires at the end of the season and talisman Jean-Philippe Mateta told the club he wants to leave.

Results have also taken a downward turn, with Palace failing to win any of their past 11 games across all competitions - the longest current winless run of any Premier League side - including losing at non-league Macclesfield in the FA Cup.

Sunday's 3-1 home loss by Chelsea extended their winless league run to eight matches, with six ending in defeat, and left them 15th in the table and eight points clear of third-bottom West Ham.

Palace ended the match with 10 men after midfielder Adam Wharton - another player linked with an exit - was sent off after receiving two yellow cards.

"Confidence is what you get from results," Glasner told BBC Match of the Day.

"It is my job, my responsibility, with my staff, my group, to get this confidence back. I saw a lot of positives, but when you are losing 3-1 and have not won for 11 games then it's completely right to say, 'where are the results?'

"That's what we have to get. It is up to us to find these puzzle pieces. There's no magician. I always believe in this group, these players, that we will turn it around."

Despite Palace's poor form, they are still one point better off than at this stage last season and can book a spot in the last 16 of the Conference League if they come through a two-legged play-off against Zrinjski Mostar from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"These are tough moments, tough games," added Glasner.

"I look at the team and 3-0 down, a red card, you can go out five or six-nil, but we came back, scored a goal and made a fight of it, so that shows the great character of the group and that gives me a lot of confidence this group will turn it around."

Luck does not appear to be on Palace's side at present, conceding a third goal from the penalty spot in controversial circumstances.

With goalkeeper Dean Henderson on the floor, defender Jaydee Canvot blocked Joao Pedro's goal-bound shot with his arm and referee Darren England waved away Chelsea's appeals, with the arm seemingly in a natural position down by his side.

However, England did stop the game 51 seconds later after being advised by the video assistant referee (VAR) to rewatch the incident on the pitchside monitor.

He spent one minute and 55 seconds looking at replays before announcing: "It is an accidental handball, therefore, it is a penalty kick but only a yellow card."

Midfielder Enzo Fernandez subsequently made no mistake with the spot-kick to put the game to bed, before a late Chris Richards reply.

Former Premier League referee Darren Cann believed a mistake was made on the decision, telling BBC Sport: "In my opinion, Crystal Palace were unfortunate to concede a penalty.

"The ball appeared to strike Jaydee Canvot's hip prior to his arm, which was in a natural position.

"No penalty in my opinion as Canvot neither deliberately handled the ball or had his arm in an unnatural position."

Just 24 hours earlier, England had been the VAR at Etihad Stadium, advising referee Farai Hallam to take a look at a very similar incident during Manchester City's win against Wolves.

Hallam initially ruled Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera's arm was in a natural position and opted to stand by his on-field call, receiving overwhelming praise and called "courageous" for sticking by his initial decision.

Guidance suggested Chelsea were awarded the penalty on Sunday because Canvot denied a goalscoring opportunity.

However, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has suggested on its website that a penalty should not be given if the player "does not deliberately handle the ball and does not make their body unnaturally bigger".

Palace boss Glasner said: "I watched back the penalty and it was first on Jaydee's hip. We were briefed before the season that if the ball touches the body first and then goes onto the hand that it is not handball."

In Crystal Palace's situation, you need a bit of luck to go your way. When you are losing your best players and your manager, there is a bit of discontent in the ground around your manager and players leaving.

They only go a goal down because of a mistake from a young lad, Canvot, who has come in the team now Guehi has left.

That's what happens when you don't have your experienced players, and they have not helped their manager with their recruitment, in the summer or now. Then they get frustrated and there is a sending-off and a penalty that maybe shouldn't have been.

So you have to be careful not to just put this defeat down to Palace falling apart. On another day, against lesser opposition, at half-time they could have been a couple of goals up.

They were on this bad run when they had Guehi and before the manager said he was leaving. But I don't fear for them, watching that, I don't think they are going to carry on all season losing games.

It's a shame, because they have gone from their best season ever to a situation now where the fans are angry, some of the players want to leave, and the manager is going in the space of a few months.

But in isolation today, that game wasn't a problem. They actually showed a lot of fighting spirit and quality in that first half.