LIVERPOOL, England (REUTERS) - Premier League leaders Liverpool recovered from a poor first-half display as they came from behind to beat an impressive Crystal Palace 4-3 in an enthralling clash at Anfield on Saturday (Jan 19).
The win, secured by late goals from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, moves Juergen Klopp's side a provisional seven points clear of second-placed Manchester City, who face bottom club Huddersfield Town on Sunday.
Palace won at City last month and at times looked as though they could produce another upset but while this was far from vintage Liverpool their prolific strikers helped them avoid a slip-up.
Trailing 1-0 at the break, two Liverpool goals inside the opening eight minutes of the second half changed the momentum of the match.
"The result is massive, we have 60 points now, it's crazy, it's an important number," said Klopp.
"I'm really proud, a few things happened that we don't really need, we're a bit short now on players but we have a few days and need to use the time now for recovery."
Palace, the last team to win at Anfield in the league back in April, 2017, took a shock 34th minute lead, against the run of play, when Andros Townsend slotted home a fine pull-back from Wilfried Zaha.
Liverpool equalised 47 seconds after the interval when the ball looped high into the area where Salah skilfully converted with the outside of his left foot after Virgil van Dijk's long-range effort was blocked.
LIVERPOOL BUZZING
Suddenly Liverpool were buzzing and it was no surprise when Brazilian Roberto Firmino put them ahead, collecting a pass from Naby Keita and beating veteran Palace keeper Julian Speroni with a slightly deflected low shot.
But the visitors were not about to roll over and they fought back to level at 2-2 in the 65th when James Tomkins was left unattended to head in a Luka Milivojevic corner.
Â
Speroni, Palace's 39-year-old third-choice, then gifted Liverpool a goal when his one-handed waft at a harmless-looking James Milner cross fell for Salah to tap in after 75 minutes.
Salah now has 50 goals in his 72 Premier League appearances and is the current top scorer in the league with 16.
Milner was sent off in the 89th for a second yellow card after a late challenge on Zaha before Mane added the fourth for the hosts with a solo strike in stoppage time.
There was still time for Palace to strike again with Max Meyer beating Alisson Becker with a low shot which the Brazilian keeper would have expected to save.
Liverpool's back line then handled some late pressure from Palace to seal the three points.
MASSIVE RELIEF
"It's a massive relief," said Klopp.
"We knew for different reasons the game would be difficult. Crystal Palace traditionally do well against Liverpool and with the physicality it was clear it would be like the first half was.
"We had to stay positive, being one down is not a massive blow, we just needed to win the second half and did what we had to do," he added.
Hodgson, whose side are hovering just above the relegation zone despite excellent performances against some of the top clubs, said he felt a mixture of pride and disappointment.
"I'm very proud of the team. You know they have extremely good players, you know it will be a hard task and it will require a lot of discipline and we did well to come back to 2-2 and 4-3 at the end after conceding a very unfair goal.
"You need character and personality and good team spirit, people prepared to stick to the game plan even when it's not going your way.
"We knew if we deviated from the plan we could find it very difficult but we stuck to our way of playing and really I should be stood here congratulating the lads on getting something out if it," added the former Liverpool and England manager."
Bayern Munich reach German Cup final to keep Double in sight. Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich beat Werder Bremen 3-2 with two goals from Robert Lewandowski on Wednesday to advance to the German
Bayern reach German Cup final to keep double in sight
BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has admitted he views Atletico Madrid as a greater threat to his side winning La Liga this season than Real Madrid. Atletico, who play Getafe on Saturday, sit five points behind Barca in the table while Real's stuttering campaign means they are already 10 adrift of the league leaders.
Atletico Madrid the greatest threat to Barcelona's La Liga
The end of Ramadan marks the joyous occasion of Eid Al Fitr (feast after fasting) on which celebrations are held, typically for three days. Eid commences on the sighting of the Shawwal (tenth month of the Hijri calendar) crescent moon,when the 29 or 30 days of Ramadan conclude after sunset.
Morning Stories Roundup: Ancient Sua Tree in Hanoi to be
BENGALURU: Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman has said the club will pay the 15 million pound (US$19 million) transfer fee to Nantes for Emiliano Sala "if contractually obliged".
Emiliano Sala: Deadline for Cardiff City to make payment
Dec 27 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino said the club will activate a one-year extension in defender Toby Alderweireld's contract to keep him at the club until 2020.
Football: Spurs to trigger Alderweireld contract extension
Football: 'Pray for no rain' as Manchester City return to
A password will be e-mailed to you. Password recovery
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri 'offended' by insult from Burnley
Rejected by Paris Saint-Germain after the world-record signing of Neymar, Lucas Moura propelled Tottenham to heights the French giants could only dream of on Wednesday by single-handedly firing
Ramadan Sobhi shanks a great chance from ten yards, out for a throw. And then the league leaders go up the other end, Cahill making up for giving away a penalty by scoring what is surely the
You know, I think Barca will be fine | The Football Ramble
Bologna coach Sinisa Mihajlovic hailed his team for pulling off a "miracle" to secure their top flight survival with a 3-3 draw at Lazio on Monday enough to keep the northerners in Serie A next season. It was a vital point for Bologna who have been transformed since the arrival of Serbian coach
Football: Brighton to face Man City in FA Cup semi-finals after beating Millwall on penalties, Watford to play Wolves Brighton players celebrate on the pitch after beating Millwall to reach their
FA Cup semi-final draw: Brighton face Manchester City
ManUtd News - Buffon identifies two problems PSG have ahead of Man Utd clash. Gigi Buffon has told Paris Saint-Germain to show "a spirit of sacrifice for the team" with Edison Cavani joining
"We Have To Improve Mentally" - Gianluigi Buffon Warns PSG
Genius's community of contributors powers the world's biggest collection of song lyrics and musical knowledge. Join Our Community Learn How Genius Works. Rank. Top Scholars Today.
0 comments:
Post a Comment