You know you’ve put in quite the performance when even Jamie Carragher, the Liverpool legend, is willing to put his allegiances to one side – even for the briefest of moments – to pay tribute to the side that has just de-railed Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League title charge.
It wasn’t quite a repeat of ‘Crystanbul’, but Liverpool do seem to have stumbled into something of a ‘Crysis’ of confidence at the worst possible time.
Oliver Glasner had only won one of his first six games in charge of Crystal Palace. And, while the Reds have looked less rampant and more vulnerable in recent weeks, few would have given the Austrian much chance of securing a second victory in The Eagles dugout away at Anfield.
But a fabulous opening goal – created by Adam Wharton and Tyrick Mitchell and finished off by the masterful Ebere Eze – and some superb defending at the other end of the pitch ensured that Crystal Palace would, not for the first time, sink a dagger into Liverpool’s hopes of claiming the top-flight crown.
Crystal Palace stun Liverpool at Anfield
If one moment summed up the afternoon – for both the hosts and their visitors – it was probably the one which happened in the 68th minute. Liverpool finally carved through Glasner’s backline, only for substitute Diogo Jota to see what looked like a straightforward tap-in cleared heroically off the line by one Nathaniel Clyne.
Former Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne, no less.
“It’s an unbelievable piece of defending,” sighs a deflated Carragher during his co-commentary role on Sky Sports (14 April, 2pm). “It’s a poor finish from the man I said Liverpool wanted the ball to fall to in the box. Is it going to be one of those days for Liverpool?”
As it transpired, yes it would be. Mitchell also blocked a goalbound Mo Salah effort from almost off the chalk, while Dean Henderson – on loan at Palace from Manchester United would you believe – denied Darwin Nunez from point-blank range.
For Carragher, however, that Jota miss was proof that Lady Luck had turned her back on Klopp and co.
“You can’t believe it,” added the 2005 Champions League winner, before also praising a colossal display from centre-half-turned-playmaker Joachim Andersen. “They’ve been poor Liverpool but they’ve certainly had the chances
“(Andersen) has been fantastic. Really impressive on the ball.”
Oliver Glasner’s side awesome at Anfield
While the narrative will obviously focus on the chances Liverpool missed, Crystal Palace had enough of their own to put the game to bed. Jean-Philippe Mateta, in one of his better games for the club, had one effort cleared in the nick of time by Andy Robertson and was also denied by a supreme Alisson Becker shot after the interval.
Yes, they rode their luck at times. But Palace were certainly deserving of their first statement win of the Glasner era.
“So, we all – players included, me included – we expected a reaction,” Klopp said after Liverpool’s hopes of a quadruple were dashed by Manchester United and against Atalanta on Thursday.
“We just were always too wide and the goal we conceded, Eze ends up completely free in the box. That cannot happen. But we had other moments when they didn’t end up in front of our goal where we were just not together.
“It’s easy, I understand 100 per cent, of course you have to ask these questions. ‘What does it mean for the title race?’ and stuff like this. I am not dumb, I know that.
“The answer is pretty easy; if we play like we did in the first half, why should we win the league? If you play like in the second half, we can win football games. So if we can win football games then we will see how many we can win.
“We have to be around when the other guys now struggle, if they struggle, so that’s how it is. For us, obviously we have to win football games anyway.”
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