Liverpool survived several scares as they clung on for a 4-3 win over Crystal Palace. The Eagles have been a thorn in our side for many seasons and took a shock lead via Andros Townsend in the first half.
Roy Hodgson’s men had beaten Manchester City a few weeks ago and looked likely to pick up another win against a title contender.
The Reds didn’t really have many chances in the first half but came out with a purpose. Mohamed Salah scored via a deflected shot from Virgil van Dijk with Julian Speroni beaten by the Egyptian’s quick feet.
Roberto Firmino then made it 2-1 via a scuffed shot that was deflected past the 39-year-old keeper. Palace weren’t going down easily and equalised thanks to a free header from James Tomkins.
Things looked bleak for the Reds but we never gave up and Speroni made a hash of a James Milner cross with Salah rushing in to tap in the ball.
Milner was sent off for a second bookable offence, and it seemed we made the points safe late in the game when Sadio Mane scored.
Max Meyer pulled one back in the final seconds, but we held on for the win. There weren’t many great performers for the Reds in the tie, but Salah was the best out of the lot.
Here are the player ratings from the game.
Alisson – 6/10
The Brazilian didn’t have much to do throughout the game but should have kept at least two of the goals out. This wasn’t a vintage performance from many of the Liverpool players and hopefully, this was a blip in an otherwise fantastic season.
James Milner – 6/10
Milner struggled down the right with Wilfried Zaha targetting him. The Palace man was responsible for both of Milner’s yellow, but the Englishman did create the third goal for us.
Virgil van Dijk – 7/10
This was a poor showing from the Liverpool defence, but Van Dijk didn’t make too many mistakes except for the Tomkins goal.
Joel Matip – 7/10
Matip had a decent game and even had an early chance which was saved well by Speroni.
Andy Robertson – 7.5/10
The Scot was fantastic for us down the left and created the fourth goal with another typical run down the channel and not giving up on a ball that seemed destined to go out.
Fabinho – 7.5/10
Fabinho was great in midfield as he dominated the Palace team, but the worry will be about his injury which he picked up late on.
Jordan Henderson – 7/10
Henderson had an alright game as he had the job of picking the pace up when we started to trail. His passing wasn’t great and one short pass led to Milner’s red.
Naby Keita – 5/10
Possibly the worst player on the pitch, nothing was working for Keita. He seemed slow with his passes, his touches were off and well, it was a surprise he was kept on the pitch for as long as the 70th minute.
Sadio Mane – 6.5/10
Had it not been for that late goal Mane would have received a poor rating too. The forward messed up several attacks and seemed to be playing out of sync with the rest of the team.
Roberto Firmino – 6.5/10
Firmino was another player that just was not up for the game as he lost possession several times. He did score the second goal but, he should do more with the quality he possesses.
Mohamed Salah – 8/10
The Egyptian was at the right place at the right time to score two priceless goals. Salah was marshalled well by the Palace side and could have done more with the ball at his feet.
Substitutes
Xherdan Shaqiri – 5/10
The Swiss didn’t create much after coming on as a sub.
Adam Lallana – NA
Nothing much to say about Lallana coming on in place of Fabinho.
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Rafa Camacho – NA
Shaved some precious seconds off the clock.
