Crystal Palace vs. Liverpool: The Eagles appeared to be in control of the game despite their recent form record, especially when Jean-Philippe Mateta‘s penalty kick handed them the lead long into the second half.
Mohamed Salah’s fortunate strike, which swung the match in the visitors’ favor, and Jordan Ayew’s contentious second yellow card made Harvey Elliott’s thrilling late goal possible.
The Palace team’s performance wasn’t poor, despite the team’s unfortunate loss to Bournemouth, according to manager Roy Hodgson before the match. This was the team’s second visit to Selhurst Park in a span of four days.
Even though Palace more than equaled the visitors in quality and application during a competitive first half in which the Eagles had the better opportunities, the quality of the visitors was evident given that they were playing against a Liverpool team that had not lost in their previous eight Premier League games.
Joel Ward, who was playing for Palace for the first time, gave it his all in the first half of the game. He effectively halted Liverpool’s attempts to swiftly advance the ball forward for Salah and company with a sliding challenge.
However, Liverpool’s unusual carelessness with the ball in their defensive third allowed the Eagles’ relentless pressure to take advantage of them. Hughes ominously called one foul as a result of this, and Jeffrey Schlupp and Jordan Ayew each scored one.
Liverpool did have more possession, but Palace was the more incisive team—particularly when they were counterattacking—and Selhurst Park helped them. How they had not taken the lead by the halfway point of the first half was perplexing.
In the Palace half, Ayew played a beautiful pass across the penalty box to Jefferson Lerma, who entered at the far post and stole the ball after Odsonne Edouard missed it.
Read More
Alisson Becker of Liverpool produced a remarkable two-handed reflex stop after his strike found its mark. But the ball kept going, and Trent Alexander-Arnold had to make another save at the goal line to keep Palace from scoring when it looped up and struck the inside of the post.
Palace seized the opportunity to attack, and a few seconds later they were awarded a penalty. In the process of forcing Endo outside the Liverpool area, Hughes won the ball. Next, Hughes attempted to move Edouard inside, but Virgil van Dijk shoved him out of the way.
Referee Andy Madley awarded the penalty following an extensive VAR analysis and discussion with the pitchside monitor. He eventually overturned it, though, believing Hughes had fouled Endo.
As the half wore on, Liverpool began to find more space in Palace’s half, but the visitors were unable to create many chances. In stoppage time, Dominik Szoboszlai had the finest opportunity, but Hughes blocked his curling effort.
Mateta was going to make an impact; he replaced Edouard, who had sustained an injury shortly before halftime and was unable to play, before the half began.
The game swiftly returned to its typical pattern after the break, with Palace controlling the ball better and scoring more goals when they did. But when Darwin Nunez dove and mishit Luis Diaz’s header, he did give the visitors an opportunity.
When Mateta rushed to the near post to control a low Hughes cross, it appeared as though Jarell Quansah had taken her out, giving Palace a genuine opportunity. After determining that there had been obvious contact, VAR intervened a few minutes into the match and awarded a penalty kick.
Read More
After Mateta scored his first Premier League goal of the season, sending Alisson reeling from a distance of twelve yards, he grabbed the ball himself and sent Selhurst Park into a frenzy of celebration. Though the lead was earned, it came as a surprise at first.
A short while later, as Liverpool searched for a quick response, Van Dijk narrowly missed reaching Alexander-whipped Arnold’s free kick, but the chance was lost.
The match against Palace, who were still in control of possession and looked to be the more clever team, was turned around with fifteen minutes remaining when Ayew received his second yellow card for what appeared to be a foul on Elliott near the halfway line.
The visitors took the lead, and Salah immediately equalized. Second-half substitute Olise gathered Cody Gakpo’s ball inside the box and set up Curtis Jones to score for Salah. The shot startled Sam Johnstone by striking Nathaniel Clyne and the net.
After losing a man and a goal in a matter of minutes, Palace might have easily given up in the last minutes, but they fought valiantly, stopping Liverpool’s attack one wave at a time.
That is, until Elliott, who had come on late to replace the injured Johnstone, took up the ball deep in the attacking half, surged forward, and unleashed a thunderbolt of a low shot that passed Remi Matthews, Palace’s goaltender, in the first minute of stoppage time.
Nevertheless, there was still one more exciting moment when Alisson leaped down to block Andersen’s header after he misdirected an in-swinging, close-range free kick from Olise.
At Selhurst Park, the worst weather possible made Palace’s match against Liverpool meaningless but unflappable.
Teams in Crystal Palace vs. Liverpool match
Crystal Palace
Johnstone (GK) (Matthews, 87), Ward, Guéhi, Andersen, Clyne, Richards, Lerma (Olise, 68), Hughes, Ayew, Edouard (Mateta, 45), Schlupp (Ahamada, 84)
Subs: Tomkins, Riedewald, Ozoh, França, Ebiowei
Liverpool
Alisson (GK), Alexander-Arnold, Quansah (Konaté, 57), van Dijk, Tsimikas, Gravenberch (Gakpo, 57), Endo (Gomez, 45), Szoboszlai (Jones, 73), Salah, Núñez (Elliott, 73), Díaz
Subs: Kelleher (GK), Bradley, McConnell, Doak
Crystal Palace Vs. Liverpool: REACTION
That concludes our live coverage of Liverpool’s thrilling victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, which ended 2-1!
There was a lot of drama around the VAR, penalties, late goals, and cards throughout the game.
Now leading the Premier League, Jurgen Klopp’s team has put pressure on their competitors for the crown to duplicate their victory from today.
Share this content:
2 Comments