MATCH FACTS
- Date – 31st March 2018
- Venue – Selhurst Park
- Attendance – 25,807
- Referee – Neil Swarbrick
- Bookings – McArthur, Benteke, Karius, Mane
- Goals – Milivojevic (13 pen), Mane (49), Salah (84)
- Star Eagle – Luka Milivojevic (7.9)
TEB VERDICT
When Palace face Liverpool in any competition, the football world is always entertained and Saturday’s game was another example of that. Overall, Palace were unlucky not to come away with at least a point from the match after a very decent performance bar some individual errors. There is no doubt that Liverpool have a couple of world class players in Mohammed Salah and Roberto Firmino however, Selhurst Park did not see them as much as you’d expect as they were kept quiet for the majority of the match. This highlights how well the hosts defended against the last top six side they will face this season and again, sets them in good stead for the all important run in.
PLAYER RATINGS (courtesy of Who Scored)
13 WAYNE HENNESSEY (6.7) – His defence did well to protect him in the first half however, when called into action he still doesn’t convey the confidence of a Premier League goalkeeper. He needs to command his area and come for balls in the air.
29 AARON WAN-BISSAKA (6.8) – Arguably his weakest performance for Palace so far this season. Still made some fantastic challenges and decisions but seemed to tire towards the hour mark. Replaced by 24 TIMOTHY FOSU-MENSAH on 88 minutes which appeared to be a move to get some fresh legs out on the pitch late on.
34 MARTIN KELLY (5.8) – Due to the unfortunate absence of James Tomkins, Kelly stepped in at centre back. Made one fantastic tackle to keep a Liverpool attack at bay and a great flicked header away when Hennessey failed to come of his line.
12 MAMADOU SAKHO (5.0) – Poor performance against his old club after two individual errors lead to goals. The wandering of Liverpool’s attacking players like Mane and Salah seemed difficult for Sakho to keep track of.
3 PATRICK VAN AANHOLT (6.9) – We’ve seen better performances in the past few games however, he did well overlapping and getting forward. Did well to almost covert with a whipping free kick.
28 LUKA MILIVOJEVIC (7.9) – Buried the penalty early on and seemed to be everywhere for the entire game. His work rate, determination and success in winning the ball back were evident yet again.
7 YOHAN CABAYE (6.6) – Still the touch of class in midfield that Palace rely on. He does a underrated job on the pitch and we should be begging for him to sign a new contract. Replaced by 8 RUBEN LOFTUS-CHEEK on 73 minutes. which was a decision that proved costly as Palace lost control of the midfield as soon as the Frenchman left the field. Loftus-Cheek allowed the hosts to press Liverpool for a spell however, we lacked Yohan’s defensive instinct.
18 JAMES MCARTHUR (6.1) – Usual powerhouse in midfield for Palace and proved his versatility again by helping defensively and getting forward. Arguably should not have gone down in the box on Mane to give him a reason to dive.
11 WILFRIED ZAHA (7.0) – Not a good enough performance overall from the star winger. Did well to win the penalty early on but seemed uninterested but perhaps more that he was carrying a knock for a large portion of the match. Always a threat on the ball but slowed the game down too often when we needed him to turn on the style against Liverpool’s hesitant back line.
10 ANDROS TOWNSEND (7.2) – Worked hard once again which seems to go unnoticed by a lot of fans. Setup Benteke twice and did well to do so but he will be all too well aware that we could do with a goal or two from him.
17 CHRISTIAN BENTEKE (6.7) – Unfortunate to get a yellow card but did well to make space up front and get into the right positions, bullying the visiting back line. Missed two clear chances to score which screamed of a player low on confidence.
Unused substitutes: 16 Diego CAVALIERI, 23 Pape SOUARE, 27 Damien DELANEY, 44 Jairo RIEDEWALD, 14 Lee CHUNG-YONG
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
ROY HODGSON: It’s very disappointing for them to get the winning goal so close to the end of the game. It feels like a groundhog day when we play against the top teams. In the second half we played well and controlled the ball and created better chances, but we also conceded both goals.
JURGEN KLOPP: It is usual for us that we need to fight here, especially after a difficult start, but it makes it more special at the end. The win was deserved. For me, it’s a penalty, it’s clear. Mane is 0.1 seconds too late going down, but it’s a penalty. With contact, how can that be a dive? It was not a Sadio Mane day today. I thought he would be sent off for handling the ball. I did not understand it but am happy he didn’t.
MATCH STATISTICS
The man of the match was awarded to Mohammed Salah (8.2) while Roberto Firmino (6) had the most shots. Patrick van Aanholt and Andros Townsend (4) made the most tackles which was the same amount of dribbles completed by Wilfried Zaha.
CRYSTAL PALACE
- Team rating: 6.53
- Total shots: 6
- Shots on target: 3
- Possession: 32%
- Pass success: 63%
- Dribbles: 16
- Aerials won: 17
- Tackles: 24
- Corners: 4
- Dispossessed: 10
LIVERPOOL
- Team rating: 6.87
- Total shots: 16
- Shots on target: 6
- Possession: 68%
- Pass success: 83%
- Dribbles: 9
- Aerials won: 18
- Tackles: 16
- Corners: 6
- Dispossessed: 18
POSITION IN THE TABLE
The loss sees Palace drop one place to 17th in the Premier League, two points above 18th placed Southampton and one point below Huddersfield Town and Swansea City in 16th and 15th respectively.
NEXT THREE FIXTURES
- 07/04/2018 Bournemouth (a)
- 14/04/2018 Brighton (h)
- 21/04/2018 Watford (a)
