Super Salah saves Liverpool

Sadio Mane took centre stage for most of the game, at the centre of two or three flashpoints, before he was subbed off just after the hour mark. But despite all this, it was Palace who took the lead.

Wilfried Zaha had been a doubt going into the game, barely training to keep his knee injury under control, but come kickoff he was in the starting line up. It took him only 12 minutes to make an impact.

A ball over the top saw him beat his defender and bear down on goal. Karius, the goalkeeping flavour of the month at Anfield, charged out to close the angle. Zaha knocked the ball past the keeper and got a clattering for his troubles. Penalty.

Luka Milivojevic stepped up and sent Karius the wrong way, his 7th penalty of the season.

Liverpool looked for a response and dominated possession, but were unable to break down a steadfast Palace defence. Sadio Mane eventually did get into the box, only to be booked for diving.

Replays showed that Kelly’s challenge did clearly make contact with the Senegalese international, but Mane stayed on his feet and then bizarrely went down in a delayed reaction with the ball already gone.

Not much else happened as half time came and went, and Liverpool were level within five minutes of the restart. Milner picked up the ball on the left and his low cross was swept home by Mane to restore parity.

Mane’s day was far from over though. After Christian Benteke missed two chances that looked impossible to miss, he was back at the centre of attention.

Shielding the ball from Andros Townsend, Mane went down under pressure and picked the ball up. However, no foul was given and instead Mane was penalised for a deliberate hand ball. Given that he was already on a booking he was extremely fortunate to escape a second yellow.

It appeared Jurgen Klopp agreed as Mane was replaced two minutes later. Adam Lallana had a brief cameo, before unfortunately going off injured almost as soon as he had come on.

Then, with time running out, Liverpool’s Egyptian king came to the rescue. It was Robertson providing the ball from the left this time. Salah teed it up and then volleyed past Hennessey to extend his tally and give Liverpool all three points.

 

31 March 2018

On balance it was probably a fair result, Liverpool dominated the game for large spells, but it will nonetheless be hard to take for Palace. With all their relegation rivals playing later they could slip back into the bottom three.

Liverpool will now turn their eyes towards Europe, albeit for a tie against Manchester City. They will be hoping Salah proves just as clinical then.

 

31 March 2018