Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool Premier League match report, Digi Mart USA News (Selhurst Park, London): Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park to inflict a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat on the hosts and leave Pierre Sage in a perilous position with his side bottom of the table. Palace substitute Eddie Nketiah pulled a goal back from the spot with the last kick of the game, but the damage was already done.
Alexis Mac Allister and Florian Wirtz struck for Liverpool either side of half time, and Alexander Isak added a third late on. The victory was Liverpool’s first in three games in all competitions, following back-to-back defeats at Arsenal and Fenerbahce, and it moves Liverpool up to fourth in the table.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, widely regarded as Liverpool’s best player, kept his side in the game with important saves to deny Daichi Kamada and Adam Wharton in a first half that also saw Palace hit the bar through Yeremy Pino. He finished with six saves.
Palace’s effort was undone when Quinten Timber lost Mac Allister at a free kick five minutes before the break, allowing the Argentina international to head in his fifth goal of the season.
Liverpool’s two record-fee signings then combined to double the lead. Bradley Barcola found Wirtz after a swift counter-attack, and the Germany international scored his first league goal of the season after a 12-game barren run in the competition.
Isak made it 3-0 in the 89th minute before Palace scored from the spot deep in stoppage time, after Milos Kerkez was judged to have fouled substitute Dario Osorio in the box.
Nketiah’s penalty prevented Sage from becoming the first Palace head coach since Frank de Boer to lose four games in a row without scoring. Sage, speaking to Sky Sports, said the team must continue its work and become more efficient, adding: “For the moment, we don’t have the results expected.” Asked whether the board still had faith in him, he said: “You have to ask them.”
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola said the win was important before the international break. “We arrived very late Thursday night from Turkey,” he said, “but it was important to finish with the win.” He added that Liverpool struggled defensively in the first half and that he was a little upset with the penalty.
Palace have conceded 24 Premier League goals this season, their most in their first 10 matches of any league campaign since 1980-81. Liverpool have earned 13 points away from home this season, more than any other side in the Premier League.
