Liverpool had won the previous two matches against Fulham in a dramatic come-from-behind victory. Liverpool also scored two goals against Sheffield United to take all the points, and after two consecutive wins, the away game against Crystal Palace was a difficult one.
Liverpool’s inability to find the attacking flair of the home team, which was defending in front of their own goal, and their inability to make the decisive goal led to a number of counter attacks that created chances, albeit not many. In the first half, Liverpool would have conceded a goal had it not been for a super save by Alisson Becker.
The second half continued in a similar vein, with Jarell Quansah committing a foul in the penalty area, giving the opposition a penalty kick, which they calmly sank to concede the opener. However, the game moved on in the 75th minute when Jordan Ayew was sent off.
Liverpool equalized soon after with a goal from Mohamed Salah, and in the 91st minute, Harvey Elliott, who came on in the middle of the game, struck a shot to complete the comeback. It was not a very satisfying match, but Jurgen Klopp admitted that his team was lucky to get the “three” points.
“I’m a very happy manager in this moment and I know we were lucky as well. If you only win your really good games you have no chance of being successful, that’s how it is.”
“And obviously today was not a really good game for us, and for 76 minutes it was a really bad performance.”
“We didn’t have any rhythm changes and any kind of accelerations, we had no timing. I don’t know how often we were offside, it was horrendous. That’s always a bit of a sign we are too passive.”
“At the beginning Palace were not extremely high on confidence, it looked like that and they didn’t really go for us but we made it happen for them with bad passes and losing the ball in the wrong moment.”
“They could have had a penalty in the first half, but it was a foul on (Wataru) Endo. Then we conceded when they got the penalty, and it looked like a little bit we needed that today. On top of that they got a red card and we scored directly after that, it was all helpful and that’s why I say we were lucky as well, definitely.”
“But what we did from 76 until 105 or however long it was, that was really good. You know then when you play 10 men you can have more problems than we did today. We really turned the game around.”
“The subs were super influential and had a super impact. That was the story of this season so far. What we bring from the bench has a real impact, that’s why we could do it. But if Harvey mishits that ball, it’s a draw. If Mo shot doesn’t get deflected, then we lose the game. The last 15-20 minutes we deserved it, before that we deserved nothing.”