- Suffered triumph at Selhurst Park of Klopp’s men, who do not throw in the towel in the fight for this Premier League
- The ‘reds’ took advantage of the draw of the ‘citizen’ to reduce distances and place themselves 9 points behind the lead with a match pending dispute
Jürgen Klopp has been warning for weeks that Liverpool will not give up fighting for this Premier League. Despite the advantage that City has in the lead, the ‘reds’ refuse to throw in the towel, even if that means having to add as many points as possible and take advantage of any error by the ‘citizens’.
That is precisely what the Anfield team did this Sunday on their visit to Crystal Palace. After chaining 12 wins in a row, City’s stumble (1-1 against Southamton) meant a golden opportunity to close the gap and Klopp’s men did not fail. The ‘reds’ went all out at Selhurst Park and took a hard-fought victory to move nine points off the lead having played one less game (1-3).
Good start for Liverpool
Without Salah or Mané, both in the Africa Cup, Liverpool displayed total football in the first half to get the victory on track as soon as possible. It was going to be facilitated by Virgil Van Dijk when he headed a corner in an imperial way to open the scoring (8′).
The ‘network’ dominance continued to increase, leading to several collective plays that were left without the goal prize. Like Fabinho’s, who finished high after a great combination.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was more successful when Robertson left him alone in front of the Palace goal. The Englishman had time to accommodate the shipment and strike down Vicente Guaita from below (32′).
From the Palace, little news, although when he was known it was to test Alisson Becker. The Brazilian goalkeeper showed off to prevent Olise from taking advantage of a gift from the Liverpool defense and immediately afterwards Mateta did manage to beat the ‘red’ goalkeeper, although his shot was faulty.
Step forward of the Palace
Those two warnings evidenced Palace’s intentions for the second half and as soon as the game resumed two death scares arrived for Klopp’s men, although neither Gallagher nor Édouard succeeded in their purpose.
The third time was the charm for Patrick Vieira’s men. Schlupp leaked a precious pass that divided the ‘red’ defense, leaving only Mateta against Alisson. The Frenchman was generous and gave in so that Édouard, without opposition, pushed him on goal (55′).
By then, Liverpool’s dominance had been called into question. Klopp’s team was touched and an aggressive and confident Palace smelled it. Even center back Andersen was encouraged to shoot with his bad leg from the front, reaching the post.
Alisson’s Miraculous Hand
The London team had nothing to lose and tried by all means to achieve a draw. If he had already brushed against Andersen, he did so more clearly to Olise’s boots. The Palace striker threw the Vaseline, but Alisson reacted to his half-out by pulling out a miraculous hand.
Liverpool was suffering tremendously, hesitant but with the voracity of Diogo Jota yet to explode. In fact, this is how the Anfield complex would save the furniture. An internship for the Portuguese ended with a VAR penalty that allowed Fabinho to sentence and incidentally send a message to Guardiola’s City: Liverpool is serious and will fight until the end to lift this Premier.