EDDIE Howe admitted goalkeeper Asmir Begovic had deserved to grab the headlines after his late penalty save helped Cherries escape Selhurst Park with a point.

Begovic blocked a tame spot-kick from Crystal Palace frontman Christian Benteke in second-half stoppage time, ensuring his team stayed level at 2-2.

While Jermain Defoe’s landmark 200th league goal and spectacular half-volley were significant talking points, boss Howe said Begovic’s dramatic contribution meant he deserved his moment in the limelight.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “I’m very pleased for Asmir because I think he’s done really well lately. He has been a giant for us.

“Moments like that in the last seconds of the game will get headlines and will get Asmir talked about, rightly so because I think he has been excellent for us in the past few games.

“Sometimes the goalkeeper can go under the radar. Artur Boruc was the same but the importance of his role in the team in the past few seasons was never underestimated by us.

“Asmir has been very consistent and has produced a number of very important saves.”

Begovic’s crucial intervention was the second spot-kick he had faced at Palace and came after Charlie Daniels was deemed to have felled Wilfried Zaha by referee Kevin Friend.

The first was awarded during the first half, Begovic harshly judged to have brought down Zaha who already appeared on his way to the deck.

Six days previously, Howe expressed his disappointment at not earning a penalty in the incident which saw Adam Smith on the end of a mistimed challenge by Southampton’s Sofiane Boufal.

Reflecting on these latest decisions, Howe added: “I haven’t seen them again so I’m only speaking from a combination of what I saw at the time and speaking to my players.

“Our players felt the second one was not a penalty and felt Charlie had got the ball.

“The players feel the first one was not clear cut and that the decision could have gone either way.

“When you look at ours which wasn’t given last week and the two which were given today, we’re going through a period where we are on the wrong end of decisions and we ask the officials to look at both penalties again and we await feedback.”

Cherries were put under plenty of pressure by a physically-imposing Palace side for spells of Saturday’s contest.

But manful defending and the odd stroke of good fortune helped the Dorset club take home a share of the spoils.

Howe added: “With the physical aspect of coming here and facing Benteke, Scott Dann and a number of other players, you know you are going to have to defend set-plays and put your body on the line and I thought we did that pretty well.

“The way we conceded the second goal was a disappointment but in the main I thought the character of the team was very good.”