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."
£100m too cheap, but hard to keep hold of Hazard, admits
Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne will stand trial for sexual assault in October after allegedly kissing a woman without consent on a train, a judge ruled on Tuesday. The 51-year-old ex
Ex-football star faces assault trial - gulf-times.com
Soccer Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester United - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - January 2, 2019 Manchester United's David de Gea during the warm up before the match
England's 1966 World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks has died aged 81. Regarded as one of the game's greatest in his position, Banks was named Fifa goalkeeper of the year six times and earned
Thuney, a third-round pick in 2016, is the highest-drafted of the Patriots' starting linemen. Right guard Shaq Mason was a fourth-rounder in 2015, right tackle Marcus Cannon was a fifth-rounder
The dilemma of having foreign workers in Malaysia, Opinion
Qatar will not take a decision on whether to expand its 2022 World Cup to 48 teams from 32 until it has seen the details of a feasibility study from FIFA, an official from the country's World Cup organising committee said on Monday.
FIFA to make decision on expanding 2022 World Cup in June
Dutch not favourites against struggling Germany - Van Dijk - Cyprus Today, cyprus today,cyprus news,cyprus mail,cyprus newspapers,north cyprus news,cyprus news today,local cyprus news.
Dutch not favourites against struggling Germany - Van Dijk
Real Madrid are "almost 100 percent" certain that they can bring Jose Mourinho back to the Bernabeu for a second spell as manager, according to the Daily Telegraph. Santiago Solari's future as Madrid coach looks uncertain following Tuesday's shock Champions League elimination at the hands of Ajax, while Mourinho said this week that he
Axed Mourinho heading back to Real Madrid - Calderon
Sergio Aguero hat-trick fires Man City to vital home win over Arsenal. Manchester City may not have enjoyed a wholly comfortable afternoon but three goals from Sergio Aguero moves them to within a
Aguero hat trick fires Man City to 3-1 win over Arsenal
Ex-Dutch youth international Maguire seeks soaring start with Geylang Barry Maguire training with his Geylang teammates at Tampines Meridian JC on Wednesday. He wants to guide and help them to do
Ex-Dutch youth international Maguire seeks soaring start with
Lionel Messi scores La Liga-clinching goal for Barcelona off
Rangers have boosted their Scottish Premiership title chances with the high-profile loan signing of Jermain Defoe. The former England striker has moved to Ibrox on an 18-month deal from Bournemouth.
Title-chasing Rangers sign Defoe on loan - sports.yahoo.com
Feb 27 - MANCHESTER CITY 1 WEST HAM UNITED 0 . Sergio Aguero's penalty gave champions Manchester City a 1-0 win over West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday to stay a point behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Aguero penalty gives Man City 1-0 win over West Ham
Jurgen Klopp has vowed that Liverpool will remain positive as they battle for Liverpool staying positive despite blip, says Klopp. 2019-03-05 18:36 which is very important in football. And
Liverpool staying positive despite blip, says Klopp - Kenyan
Newcastle took a huge step towards securing their Premier League survival as Ayoze Perez sealed a win against Leicester at King Power Stadium. Perez heads Newcastle closer to Premier League safety
Perez heads Newcastle closer to Premier League safety
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar