Liverpool won with difficulty against Crystal Palace in the 23rd week of the Premier League, Sunday (23/1).
Liverpool were made to work hard by Palace during a 3-1 win at Selhurst Park, London. The Reds who had a 2-0 lead almost failed to bring home the three points from this match.
Liverpool started the game well. As a result, the Reds have won 1-0 when the game has only been running for eight minutes.
Central defender Virgil van Dijk scored Liverpool’s opening goal. Van Dijk’s hard header utilizing Andrew Robertson’s pass rattled the Palace goal which was escorted by Vicente Guaita.
Liverpool, who appeared dominant, could finally increase the score to 2-0 in the 32nd minute. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who was in the penalty box calmly executed opportunities that started from Robertson’s mature bait.
The situation reversed in the second half. Palace got two chances in a row early in the second half. It’s just that Jean-Philippe Mateta’s shot was sideways from goal and Odsonne Edouard’s backheel from close range could still be saved by Alisson.
Palace’s efforts to reduce the position paid off in the 55th minute. Mateta’s pass that escaped the offside trap to Edouard was easily cheated to break into Alisson’s goal.
Two minutes later Palace almost equalized to 2-2. Joachim Andersen fired a shot from outside the penalty box which was still thin on the right side of Alisson’s goal.
Palace got another chance to score in the 70th minute. This time Jeffrey Schlupp’s shot from a narrow angle was still on the right side of Alisson’s goal.
Alisson made a brilliant save in the 83rd minute. The Brazilian goalkeeper painstakingly thwarted Oliseh’s lob that headed towards the goal.
Liverpool then awarded a penalty after the referee considered Diogo Jota fouled by Guaita in the penalty box. Fabinho, who came forward as the executor, did a good job to make the score 3-1 in the 89th minute and held on until the game was over.
“These are three points that are valuable for us, absolutely valuable. The kids can rest for a while and get ready again,” Klopp said as reported by the club’s official website, Sunday (23/1/2022).
On the one hand, Klopp did not bother with the referee’s decision to award a penalty to Fabinho at the end of the second half. According to him, the decision was valid based on the VAR analysis.
“I don’t need to watch the replay anymore because VAR already said it was a penalty and the referee saw it as a penalty,” he said.
On the one hand, Crystal Palace coach, Patrick Vierira admitted that he was annoyed with the leadership of the referee. The thing that angered the former Arsenal captain the most was when the referee awarded Liverpool a penalty at the end of the second half.
Whereas previously, the referee had stated that there was no violation in the penalty box. But after seeing VAR, the referee changed his decision.
“I don’t really want to talk about this because I’m worried about disrespecting the referee. But, I don’t understand why he gave that penalty. I looked at it from all angles and still didn’t understand it was a penalty,” Vieira said as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
The victory achieved by the Reds makes them currently nine points adrift of Manchester City.
Jordan Henderson cs now has the opportunity to cut the distance to six points because they have one game saved.
