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."
Neymar will miss both legs of Paris Saint-Germain's upcoming Champions League last-16 tie against Manchester United after the French club confirmed on Wednesday that the world's most expensive player would be out for 10 weeks with a metatarsal injury.
Neymar To Miss Manchester United Tie After Being Ruled Out
Espanyol's Wu Lei became the first Chinese player to score in La Liga on Saturday as his goal helped his team to a 3-1 win over Real Valladolid. Wu, who was named the Chinese Super League's
Wu Lei makes history for China in La Liga | Aaj News
Furious Sarri Slams Chelsea Players As "Difficult To Motivate" After Arsenal Defeat Rafael Jan 20, 2019 8 Comments Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri was so furious with his players after a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal he insisted on using a translator to ensure his every word was understood clearly without mistake.
Maurizio Sarri says Chelsea's players are 'extremely
MILAN, May 26 (Reuters) - Former European Cup winners AC Milan endured a bittersweet 3-2 win at SPAL in the last round of the Serie A, finishing the campaign outside the top four after their nearest rivals both booked their Champions League berths on Sunday. The result left Milan fifth on 68 points
AC Milan miss out on top-four finish despite SPAL win - Egypt
Football: Valencia chairman Murthy says King's Cup victory
Football: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gives stars 'licence to express', says Dwight Yorke The key to the Red Devils' surge in form has been the caretaker's perceptive man-management skills, said former
Ole gives stars 'licence to express', says Yorke, Football
Europa League: Chelsea too strong for Kiev, Arsenal slump at Rennes Chelsea were by far the better side at Stamford Bridge - they had eight shots on target to Kiev's none - but it was not
Arsenal to face Rennes in Europa League last 16 | London
BERLIN (AFP) - Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund have insisted Chelsea-target Christian Pulisic will not be allowed to leave in the January transfer window.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Chelsea target Pulisic not for sale in January: Dortmund
* Everton rode their luck for a 2-0 home win over Bournemouth. Football News. Soccer-Everton ride luck for 2-0 victory at home to Bournemouth.
Everton Ride Luck For Home Victory Over Bournemouth
National sports agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) announced on Sunday that they have penned a three-year partnership with Bayern Munich. As a result of this tie-up, both the parties involved will
Bayern Munich announce 3-year partnership with Sport
Griezmann calls time on Atletico stay as move to Barcelona looms MADRID • French striker Antoine Griezmann has told Atletico Madrid he will leave them in the close season, the Spanish club said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Antoine Griezmann admits move from Atletico Madrid is edging
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen