Crystal Palace 1 Liverpool 2
Roy Hodgson welcomed his former employers Liverpool to Selhurst Park as he looked to change his side’s fortunes, with wins becoming a distant memory of late. The Crystal Palace manager had apologised after criticising the fans for booing after their game in midweek.
The visitors were struggling to hold onto possession and severely lacking telling passes in the final third. Palace turned the ball over and broke down the right with Ayew, who swung a teasing ball into the box which Liverpool struggled to deal with.
It found Lerma at the back post, who hit it first time, but Alisson saved with the ball rebounding onto the post. As the Brazilian scrambled to stop the spinning ball going in, Alexander-Arnold cleared to prevent Liverpool going behind.
Jurgen Klopp’s side then lost possession in a dangerous area with Will Hughes feeding it into the path Edouard. He was bundled over by van Dijk and the referee had no hesitation and pointed to the penalty spot.
Credit: @CPFC
The Reds were saved when VAR reviewed it and decided that the Palace midfielder had fouled Endo in the build-up when he clattered into him from behind. It was the right decision and nobody could question the foul but it was another let-off for the visitors.
Ironically, Liverpool were not looking themselves in this game and were playing like they used to when Roy Hodgson was in charge of the team. The players could be expecting the hair-dryer treatment from their manager at the interval.
Hugh Jackman was in attendance at Selhurst Park for the game but one thing was for sure he was certainly not witnessing ‘The Greatest Show’. Hughes then picked up the ball out wide and crossed it looking for substitute Mateta.
The striker went to ground, looking for a penalty but the referee was not interested. The game then continued for a good two minutes or so before the VAR studio told the official to stop play. They then sent him to the monitor to review the decision.
He did not look at the incident for long before changing his decision and awarding a penalty. Looking at the replays, firstly the ball had gone away from Mateta from his poor control, meaning he was never getting to it. Then you have to ask yourself if the contact was enough to send him over.
Putting all of this to one side, the main thing to consider with these interventions was whether it was a ‘clear and obvious error’ by the referee. This is something you could debate for hours but no one was going to deny VAR its two minutes of fame once again.
Credit: @premierleague
Mateta stepped up to take it and sent it straight down the middle of the goal to give Crystal Palace the lead. It was the Frenchman’s second goal in forty Premier League appearances for The Eagles and what an important one it could prove.
Alexander-Arnold then whipped a dangerous free kick into the box but Nunez could not get on the end of it as he slid in. With over an hour of the game gone, Liverpool had failed to register a single shot on target.
The Reds were then awarded a free kick in their own half which Ayew stood over to prevent a quick one being taken. The referee saw this and immediately produced a yellow card for the Crystal Palace forward, a silly card to pick up.
Ayew tried to remonstrate with the official as when van Dijk kicked the ball, it did not strike the Palace player. This is irrelevant as the rules of the game do not state that it has to hit him, the fact he was stood half a yard away from the ball is enough rationale.
As Liverpool then looked to counter-attack, substitute Harvey Elliott was bundled over by Jordan Ayew. The referee then produced a second yellow card and sent him off. Many were surprised but by the letter of the law, he was denying the visitors a chance to break intentionally.
This was to prove to be the turning point of the game. The Reds started to pile on the pressure and as Olise failed to deal with Gakpo’s cross, Jones found Salah, who drilled the ball into the back of the net.
Had the Egyptian not scored, Liverpool would have been awarded a penalty as Joel Ward scythed down Curtis Jones. Fortunately for the Palace player, it was not something the referee had to deal with as he could have been sent off himself.
Palace were to suffer further misery as Sam Johnstone had to come off injured, replaced by Remi Matthews for his first ever appearance for The Eagles. One thing was sure, this was not going to be a quiet day at the office for the keeper.
Elliott picked up the ball for Liverpool in the final third, side-stepped Mateta and struck a sublime shot into the bottom corner. The away end erupted as the visitors took the lead in added time to seemingly rescue all three points.
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