Cole Palmer's opener was canceled out late on by Jean-Philippe Mateta for Palace on the day.
Maresca later said, "We probably did enough to win the game today. Between the first-half and the second-half, we probably created enough chances to win the game. But in football, you need to be clinical otherwise the game is always open, especially in this stadium; any transition, any corner boosts the energy for them. Unfortunately at the end, we concede but overall, we did enough today to win the game.
"Two or three weeks ago, we were talking about the title race. I never thought (about the title race). We knew that Newcastle, Aston Villa and Manchester City would be there, so for me, it's not about the table, it's about how we can improve things.
"The performance today was very good on and off the ball. I knew at this moment in the season, it is going to happen in every season that some teams are not going to win some games. The reason why, I think every game is different. Sometimes I think for one reason and sometimes for another reason.
"But today, if I had to decide the reason why we didn't win the game; we need to be clinical when you have the chance to kill the game. Because if it's 2-0, the game is probably finished but if you continue to be open, open, open, you are likely going to concede some transitions and some corners and then you can concede."