Mohamed Salah scored his 200th Reds goal as Liverpool climbed up to 1st in the Premier League.
After a disappointing fifth-placed finish in the Premier League last season, there was hope that Liverpool would be able to improve in order to keep up with the leading pack this campaign. It’s the 9th December and Liverpool sit top of the league table, now seven points clear of Manchester City.
Selhurst Park has been a happy hunting ground for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool – with zero defeats during the German’s tenure. The last time Crystal Palace beat Liverpool in south London was during the 2014/15 season (3-1).
For Liverpool, they were looking for their third consecutive league win that would put them top of the table, one point clear of Arsenal – seven of the holders Manchester City.
The best chance of the first half was for the hosts, as Jordan Ayew’s low cross evaded Odsonne Edouard and fell kindly for Jefferson Lerma to tap in at the far post. If not for a miraculous save from Alisson, Crystal Palace would have taken the lead.
Palace were later awarded a penalty for a foul committed by Virgil van Dijk on Edouard. However, a foul by Will Hughes on Wataru Endo in the build-up prompted Andy Madley to revoke the initial decision.
The hosts would eventually have a penalty, as the VAR advised the referee to once again look at the pitch-side monitor in the second half, and awarded a Palace penalty for a foul committed by Jarell Quansah minutes before play was stopped (minutes is a long time in football).
What was particularly interesting about the whole debacle was the delayed advice that the referee should stop play for a foul committed a while back. Liverpool supporters will be the first to point out that the VAR believed they were not able to interrupt play to award Luis Diaz’s onside goal against Tottenham Hotspur because play had been resumed.
Regardless, Jean-Philippe Mateta converted the spot kick to give Crystal Palace the lead against Liverpool. Once again, the Reds had to do it the hard way.
Things looked bright for Crystal Palace, until roughly 15 minutes from the 90. Jordan Ayew collected a needless second yellow card after bringing down Liverpool substitute Harvey Elliott. The Palace forward was sent off, leaving the hosts a man down for the closing stages.
Just 105 seconds later, Mohamed Salah scored his 200th Liverpool goal to bring his side level. The Egyptian now becomes just the fifth Liverpool player to reach 200 goals for the club, only behind: Ian Rush (346), Roger Hunt (285), Gordon Hodgson (241) and Billy Liddell (228).
The fourth official held up the stoppage time board to reveal an additional 10 minutes at the end of the match. Liverpool had an extra 10 minutes to find a winner at Selhurst Park.
And when Liverpool needed a hero, up stepped 20-year-old Harvey Elliott to cut inside onto his left foot and fire a very ‘Salah-esque’ effort into the back of the net. The away end was pure bedlam, as they knew they would be singing “Liverpool, top of the league!”
The season is still very early. After the underwhelming season last – Liverpool looked reinvigorated, recharged and ready for a challenging season. It’s December and Liverpool are top of the Premier League table.
Seven points clear of Manchester City now means that whether they will be top or not, the Reds will be above the holders on Christmas Day. Something deemed not just unlikely but ludicrous to suggest at the start of the season.
The next challenge for the Reds will be Union Saint-Gilloise in their final group stage match of the tournament before playing in the round of 16 in March. A dead rubber fixture, with one eye firmly on next Sunday as Liverpool take on Manchester United at Anfield.
Kick-off in Belgium will be at 5.45pm on Thursday, 14 December.
Crystal Palace team: Johnstone (Matthews 87), Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Clyne, Hughes (Ozoh 90+5), Richards, Lerma (Olise 68), Ayew, Edouard (Mateta 46), Schlupp (Ahamada 84).
Liverpool team: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah (Konate 57), Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai (Jones 74), Endo (Gomez), Gravenberch (Gakpo 57), Salah, Nunez (Elliott 74), Diaz.
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