Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool: 5 talking points

Liverpool won at Selhurst Park in dramatic fashion running out 2-1 winners against a thoroughly rattled Crystal Palace side. Joe Ledley gave the eagles the lead right after half-time before Liverpool Vice Captain James Milner was sent off for a second bookable offense an hour into the game. Roberto Firmino scored from a terrible mistake from the Crystal Palace goalkeeper to level it up before a penalty was awarded to Liverpool in the 6th minute of stoppage time at the end of the game. Christian Benteke scored the penalty to hand Liverpool a vital three points.Let us have a look at the five talking points in the game:

#1 Klopp shocks everyone with selection

How many times out of 10 would someone expect Jurgen Klopp to bench fit and rested Phillipe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge for a game against Crystal Palace away at Selhurst Park? The answer may be debatable but would hardly be above 1 or 2 times out of 10.

Jurgen Klopp pulled one over the travelling support when he did not start either of the devastating duo for the game after having rested them midweek as well for the high-octane clash at Anfield. Instead, the team that went out today was largely unchanged from the Manchester City game earlier in the week and saw only Alberto Moreno coming in for Nathaniel Clyne.

While many would say the selection was with an eye towards the high stakes Europa League tie against fierce rivals Manchester United in midweek, you have to wonder if Coutinho and Sturridge really needed one and a half weeks off overall while the likes of Can, Milner, Firmino and Henderson played their third game in a week. You would expect all of the latter mentioned players to start in the midweek Europa League tie too.

What is even more bizarre is Klopp turned to Christian Benteke over Daniel Sturridge when a man down and looking to turn the game around. Not that it didn’t help the cause, but you have to wonder what exactly is up with Sturridge. Is it another injury? There could be a totally different plausible explanation for everything and if so everyone would be all ears to the matter if only Herr Klopp would care to explain. Only, knowing him, he’d only flash a clever smile and call the curious cat out of us further.

#2 Crystal Palace cannot buy a win

Alan Pardew threw his coat away in disgust as his side managed to do the unthinkable all in a span 45 (+6) minutes of football that sent the Crystal Palace supporters looking up the yellow pages for someone who could buy them a win in the Premier League. Crystal Palace extended their run of games without a win this year in the league to twelve as they capitulated after taking the lead.

Having played heroically against a charged up Liverpool side for the first half during which Palace, seemed the likelier to score, the Palace faithful must’ve thought they’d be likelier to win too after opening the scoring right after the half-time break. If it couldn’t get any better, Palace supporters must’ve been trading fist bumps as James Milner went off down the tunnel after seeing Red for a second punishable offence.

Everything after that was simply a horror show for the home crowd as they saw Palace goalkeeper Alex McCarthy do his best impression of a Steven Gerrard slip from a back pass handing the ball to Roberto Firmino before Alex McCarthy could only flap his hands in his best impersonation of the gaffe-prone Simon Mignolet as Firmino leveled it up for Liverpool.

Matters would only get worse as Damien Delaney lunged somewhat avoidably at Christian Benteke with the clock reading close to the end of stoppage time after full time, giving the Belgian to fall into a heap before being awarded a penalty. Benteke slotted home the penalty to leave Crystal Palace fans wondering what they’d need to do to see their team win again.

#3 James Milners sending off changed the game

James Milner has been a divisive figure at Anfield. Brought in to replace Steven Gerrard, Milner without a shadow of a doubt has had a tough start to his Anfield career. Having had to bear a donkey on his back almost all this season, Milner would have hoped his performance against his beloved Manchester City at Anfield would’ve pushed the detractors back into their dens and given him some breathing space.

That was all till he decided to break a Crystal Palace counter-attack down after he himself lost the ball high up the pitch. Whether he remembered he was on a yellow is secondary, but to scythe Zaha down after most of his team mates looked likely to quell the attack was a questionable decision, for the sake of being polite. With his team down a goal and having just made a positive substitution, Klopp would’ve been forgiven for wanting to scream his head off at James Milner who had by now started the long, lonely walk down the tunnel.

However, it wasn’t the sending off that was odd in itself, odder still was the immediate revival Liverpool embarked upon right after. A small tactical shuffle later, Liverpool turned the game inside out as from being absolutely nowhere near the game, Liverpool started dominating proceedings, that too one man down against one of the most physically imposing sides in the Premier League and that too on their home turf.

Not to suggest, Milner is the reason Liverpool were doing poorly but going a goal down was bad enough, the sending off really woke the players up. What followed were monstrous turns by Emre Can, Jordan Henderson and Dejan Lovren who played thereafter as if they were possessed.

Dejan Lovren in particular, switched now to an auxiliary right back, went completely berserk, closing Palace players down in their side of the pitch before galloping away with the ball leaving them flat on their backs (just ask Papa Souare). This was a truly incredible match which turned into the extraordinary only when James Milner was sent off.

#4 Crystal Palace will rue the penalty

Damien Delaney must still be pleading his innocence with the linesman who signaled the penalty shout to the referee. After having thrown his body on the line numerous times, exhaustively repelling the Liverpool front line with Scott Dann by his side, Delaney looked on in horror as his half challenge, one he visibly tried to pull out of, was deemed illegitimate as Benteke bundled over.

A penalty was awarded, the sort of penalty you cannot return from, the sort of penalty that is awarded in the dying seconds of stoppage time. Benteke slotted home and Delaney had instantaneously lost Crystal Palace a match they would’ve ideally had no reasons to lose.

Replays showed that there was contact, but many a pundits argued that the contact was not nearly enough to make the Belgian forward lose his balance. A small brush against the heel of Christian Benteke cost Crystal Palace the match and Delaney a good night’s sleep or three. Palace now lay precariously close to the relegation contenders after having leapt so far away from it till midseason.

#5 Liverpool are gaining momentum

The top four finish is a hangman’s noose in the Premier League. You could get so embroiled in it that it could cost you your life. Just ask Brendan Rodgers who lost his job this season right after claiming that it was not his brief to take Liverpool into the top four this season. Jurgen Klopp has endured a frustrating few months.

From fixture congestion to howling winds that change the direction of the ball in mid-air to mounting heaps of injuries to key players, to ticket price protests, to appendicitis and a performance graph from his players that represent the Himalayan ranges in its crests and troughs,

Jurgen Klopp has seen it all in a short span. What he does see after today’s game is nine out of a nine possible points in the last three games. At the business end of the Premier League season, that equates to invaluable momentum, the sort you cannot buy. Going into the fixture list to follow, Liverpool have an outside chance of sneaking into the top four.

True, for that to happen, some of the teams above them have to mess up to an extent, but it doesn’t seem improbable. Furthermore, there is nothing better than putting the teams above under some pressure by notching up and grinding out wins and lucky for Liverpool, in the remaining ten games, Liverpool will probably not find a game as tricky as Crystal Palace away and hopefully not face the same situation as today’s coming from behind with ten men for over half an hour. Liverpool are certainly on the up.