Slot thought that he had prevented a defeat three minutes before the end through substitute Federico Chiesa when the Italian tied. Again Liverpool manages to eliminate a backlog in the last minutes, everyone thought. While his team went hunting for the victory, the home club shared a banger stroke from nowhere to the utterly joy of the London audience. Eddie Nketiah was crowned as a match winner.
On a bulging Selhurst Park, the Liverpool supporters and probably the entire staff of the Reds did not know what they experienced. The home club could have led 4-0 halfway, but partly thanks to goalkeeper Alison Becker and the inside of the post that the damage was only one goal.
As often, Liverpool struggled against the physically fierce Crystal Palace with the stiff defenders and the packed midfield of the London team, which operated in a 5-4-1 formation. But at the times when ‘Palace’ came out, it was constantly dangerous in the first hour. The strong French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta gave Virgil van Dijk and his colleagues the most headaches, although Palace’s only hit came for the break of Isamaila Sarr. He was lucky that Ryan Gravenberch headed the ball in front of Sarr at a corner, after which it took it up close.
Ismaïla Sarr is celebrating the fast opening goal for Crystal Palace. © ANP/ HH
Liverpool did not mention much. It started with the large purchase of Alexander Isak (150 million euros) in the base. In view of the enormous investment on one side, that was no surprise, but last week Last week explained that he should get the Swedish attacker in the right condition and that the Hugo Ekitike (80 million) from Eintracht Frankfurt did well. But it ran into a red card against Southampton in the League Cup and was suspended.
Isak worked in the round, but desperately waited for a big chance. He tried it with fiddling actions in the sixteen meters, but every bet disappeared next to the goal or he was interrupted early.
Slot had left Cody Gakpo outside the base, but came back to that in the break. Gakpo, who caused a lot of danger from the left flank in the first months, had to start danger from the flank. On the right side that Mo Salah hardly succeeded.
Salantly enough, in the run -up to the duel with Crystal Palace, Slot received strong criticism for the first time and from a very unexpected corner. An assistant to his predecessor Jürgen Klopp, the Danish Thomas Gronnemark, believes that the level of the shedding has been terribly backwards … “Under Klopp we had really made improvements, now I see the long bumped back,” said Grontemark, who was once in service as a ‘throw-in-coach’ and the record.
Virgil van Dijk (r) Jean-Philippe Mateta (L) beats in the air. © ANP / AFP
It is a remarkable form of criticism of a coach who, although the last matches always gave away the victory, made Liverpool an absolute football machine in his debut season and won the national title with great force majeure.
Slot also does not look for it in ‘far -thrown’, because he wants to play his players with good football. That is exactly what he did in the second half. It became one -way traffic in the last half hour. From the umpteenth attack in the final phase, substitute Federico Chiesa, who replaced the disappointing Florian Wirtz, produced the 1-1. But then his team got the lid on the nose.