LONDON – Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge suffered a potentially fatal blow as Crystal Palace won 1-0 at Anfield on April 14.
A first home league defeat since October 2022 for the Reds leaves Jurgen Klopp’s men two points behind Manchester City and level with Arsenal, who can go top with victory over Aston Villa later on April 14. The result of that match was not available at press time.
Reds fullback Andy Robertson told Sky Sports: “It’s been the story of the last few games and that’s why we have been punished in these games. We are struggling to keep clean sheets right now...
“So frustrating today. So many chances. First half I thought we were poor and they were on top and could have been more than 1-0 up. Second half we had enough chances to win two or three games.”
Klopp added: “It wasn’t a fully convinced team on the pitch. It’s a really difficult one. We weren’t great. Crystal Palace had far too many football moments where we ran in the wrong direction.”
Eberechi Eze’s early goal handed the Eagles a vital win in their battle for survival as they moved eight points clear of the drop zone.
However, Liverpool’s final season under Klopp is unravelling.
The League Cup winners still had a quadruple chance just a few weeks ago.
But after crashing out of the FA Cup to Manchester United, Liverpool succumbed to a first home defeat in any competition for 14 months when Atalanta stormed Anfield on April 11 to take a 3-0 first-leg lead in their Europa League quarter-final tie.
Klopp’s men have now won just three of their last eight games in all competitions and are showing clear signs of fatigue after already having played 51 games this season.
Slow starts have been a recurring theme of Liverpool’s struggles of late and they fell behind again.
Alisson Becker made his long-awaited return in goal for the home side but he had no chance when Eze was left with a simple finish from Tyrick Mitchell’s cross.
It meant the Reds have conceded in all of their last nine league games at Anfield – their joint-longest run at home without a clean sheet in the Premier League.
Palace were millimetres away from a second moments later when Robertson produced a remarkable goal-line clearance to deny Jean-Philippe Mateta after Virgil van Dijk’s slip let the French striker through.
Liverpool had to resort to set pieces to put the Palace defence under pressure in the first half.
Wataru Endo’s scuffed effort came back off the crossbar.
Dean Henderson then produced a stunning save to prevent Luis Diaz levelling at the back post with an acrobatic effort.
Klopp reacted at half-time with the introduction of Dominik Szoboszlai before Trent Alexander-Arnold made his return after two months out when Conor Bradley went down injured.
Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo were also sent on for the rescue mission.
Jota looked certain to equalise when picked out by Szoboszlai but the Portuguese forward’s finish hit former Red Nathaniel Clyne on the line with the goal gaping.
At the other end, Alisson showed why he is one of the world’s best goalkeepers with a remarkable stop to turn Mateta’s strike over from point-blank range.
Liverpool galloped immediately up the other end and Curtis Jones slotted wide with just Henderson to beat.
Mohamed Salah had one final chance to at least snatch a point, but his goal-bound effort was brilliantly blocked by Mitchell in stoppage time.
Henderson told the BBC: “The amount of blocks... They made save after save for me, I had to make saves as well. I felt like I was out there for about a year, we rode our luck at times but I’m delighted.”
Unless Liverpool produce a stunning fightback against Atalanta in midweek, Klopp will have just two more games at Anfield before his momentous reign comes to an end.
But what looked like a glorious goodbye is now in danger of turning into a damp squib. AFP
