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."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer boosted by Jose Mourinho's work, claims Louis van Gaal Description: Van Gaal's claims seem at odds with the more entertaining football played by United since Solskjaer started a reign that looks set to bring him the manager's job on a permanent basis.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer boosted by Mourinho's work, claims Louis
A host of big-name footballers are behind a campaign to raise money for a private search for missing footballer Emiliano Sala. The campaign has raised £130,000 from almost 2,000 people in just a
New search begins for missing footballer Emiliano Sala
Molde owners will support me if I stay at Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said the owners of Norwegian club Molde sent him to Old Trafford with their blessing and asked him to try to turn his temporary stint at the club into a permanent role.
Molde owners will support me if I stay at United-Solskjaer
Football: Man City come from two goals down to reach FA Cup last four LONDON (REUTERS) - Premier League leaders Manchester City recovered from two goals down to beat Championship side Swansea City 3-2 at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday (March 16) to progress to the FA Cup semi-finals.
Man City come from two goals down to reach FA Cup last four
England's future bright with rise of starlets: Henderson
Martial and Lingard both limped off during the 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday and are set to miss the FA Cup fifth round tie with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday and the Premier League clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford six days later.
Man Utd's Martial, Lingard to miss Chelsea, Liverpool matches
Mohamed Salah's involvement in the Champions League final came to a premature end last year but it took less than two minutes for him to put things right this time around as his early effort was
Defence could be key as Barcelona and Liverpool lock horns
Almoez Ali scored with a spectacular overhead kick for a record ninth goal of the Asian Cup to set Qatar on their way to a first continental title with a stunning 3-1 win over four-times champions
Sport Ali on target as Qatar stun Japan to win first Asian Cup
Andre Gray came off the bench to earn Watford a late 2-1 Premier League win at home to Leicester City in Brendan Rodgers' first game in charge of the Foxes. Jamie Vardy's equaliser seemed to have earned Rodgers' men a draw at Vicarage Road on Sunday after the striker cancelled out an early header by Troy Deeney 15 minutes from time.
Latest WATFORD | The Straits Times
Atletico extend lead over Real with narrow win over Eibar
'Expired' Molde deal to ease way for Solskjaer, Football News
Lucas Moura, from PSG cast-off to Tottenham idol AFP May 8, 2019 AFP No Comments Paris (AFP) - 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 Wednesday by single-handedly firing Spurs into a first Champions League final.
Lucas Moura - from PSG cast-off to Tottenham idol - Khaleej Times
Rakitic: Messi's motivation spurs on Barcelona. "Whenever our captain says something the rest of us follow," said Rakitic at a press conference on Tuesday. Rakitic believes Barcelona's
Messi's motivation spurs on Barcelona, says Rakitic - News
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen