Liverpool today beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park in a dramatic encounter which saw Christian Benteke come off the bench and score a penalty winner with the last kick of the game.
Joe Ledley had given Palace the lead, before James Milner got sent off. But a Roberto Firmino equaliser and Benteke’s late spot-kick clinched a third consecutive Premier League win.
Klopp boldly went with the same front-three that beat Manchester City, which meant Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge stayed on the bench – clearly with Thursday’s match against Manchester United in mind. At the back, Mamadou Sakho came in for Kolo Toure and oddly – Alberto Moreno replaced Nathaniel Clyne at left-back.
The first-half was frenetic, with Bolasie messing up a one-on-one and Adebyaor heading against the bar even with Liverpool dominating.
We saw plenty of possession down the left, but were unable to thread our intricate passes into direct opportunities.
As the half went on our pace slowed, which begs the question why we can press and harry at such intensity against bigger sides but often not against smaller ones?
Moreno was poor on the left of defence, giving away fouls, while the firepower waited on the bench.
Just three minutes into the second-half though Liverpool were behind.
Soare forced a corner down our right, which Cabaye whipped in. We missed two opportunities to clear it with Firmino probably the biggest culprit, and Ledley smashed in from the edge of the area.
With our backs against the wall, Palace’s keeper McCarthy gifted us an equaliser. His clearance found Firmino, who controlled it and swept home in a one-on-one situation.
Catastrophic defending, tidy finish. The Brazilian’s eighth of the season made him our outright top-scorer – for a short while at least…
Despite being down to ten men, the goal boosted Liverpool against a Palace side who were happy to see us have the ball.
But we started to dominate, with Moreno hammering a long-range effort against the woodwork.