Palace's early ambition rewarded with late win over champions

Liverpool were beaten for the first time this season as a 97th-minute winner from Eddie Nketiah gave the champions a taste of their own late medicine while certifying Crystal Palace’s top-four credentials. 

Federico Chiesa equalised for Liverpool in the 87th minute as Liverpool looked set to avoid defeat once again with only minutes remaining, but an undeterred Palace didn’t give up easily. 

It is often said a true sign of champions is to win even when performing poorly, but a truer sign surely is to not perform poorly at all. 

Liverpool had been reliant on late-game heroics multiple times this season - Chiesa’s goal was their sixth in the last 10 minutes of matches this season - but if you’re left searching for a late winner, logic dictates that your opponents are too, and today they were reminded how it feels to be on the other side of such an outcome. 

Palace have Liverpool's number?

Palace have become something of a bogey side for Liverpool in recent times.  

The Reds have won only two of their eight games against Palace in all competitions since the start of 2022/23, their joint-fewest wins against any opponent they have faced at least four times in this period, along with Arsenal and Manchester United. 

Palace, meanwhile, are the only remaining unbeaten side in the Premier League this season. In all competitions their unbeaten run stretches to 18 games, tying the club’s all-time record that dates back to 1969.  Three of those 18 games have come against Liverpool, including beating them on penalties in the Community Shield in August. 

Fast start stuns Reds

Oliver Glasner’s side flew out of the blocks early doors in this game, leaving Liverpool shellshocked. In truth, the Reds were lucky not to be multiple goals behind at half-time. 

Palace’s opener came inside 10 minutes, with a corner awarded to the Eagles, much to the chagrin of Liverpool’s defenders, and in turn Arne Slot, who was carded for his protestations post-goal. 

Daichi Kamada floated the ball towards the back post, and Ryan Gravenberch climbed high to clear. But under pressure from Marc Guehi, who almost moved to Liverpool at the start of the month, the Dutchman headed the ball back into the centre of the six-yard box, where Ismaila Sarr fired the ball past Alisson. 

It was Sarr’s fourth goal in seven games against Liverpool in the Premier League, and his third successive goalscoring appearance against them in all competitions. 

The Senegalese attacker is making a habit of bringing Liverpool back down to earth – he also scored twice against them for Watford when halting the Reds’ 44-game unbeaten run in the Premier League back in February 2020. 

Alisson to the rescue

Liverpool would have almost certainly trailed by two goals if not for a trio of high-quality saves from Alisson, with the Brazilian blocking clear-cut chances from Yeremy Pino, Daniel Munoz and Jean-Philippe Mateta in quick succession. 

A good goalkeeper could have saved any one of those attempts, but only a world-class shot-stopper would have saved all three. 

Within 23 minutes of kick-off, Palace had recorded four shots on target, more than Liverpool had faced in any full Premier League game this season. 

Liverpool dominant without threat

As expected, Liverpool had prolonged periods of possession, but it was their defenders rather than their creative midfielders who dominated possession, and Slot’s side were unable to locate their danger men in proximity of the penalty area. 

Indeed, Palace’s lead only served to make them more dangerous. They were more than willing to soak up pressure while capitalising on Liverpool’s high defensive line whenever the opportunity arose, and one such instance led to two attempts for Mateta in first-half stoppage time. 

His first chance was a wonderful, curled attempt from outside the box that hit the inside of the post before flashing across the six-yard box. His second a well-taken volley on his weak foot that whistled over the crossbar. 

"[It was a] very difficult first half!, Slot told Sky Sports. "They did really well and deserved to be 1-0 up; we were lucky it was only 1-0. 

"Second half it was the opposite. It took a while before we scored and we did with a few minutes left. But from a second set-piece they won the game."

Liverpool had opted to start Florian Wirtz rather than Cody Gakpo, but Wirtz didn’t replace Gakpo like-for-like, with left-back Milos Kerkez instead filling that space high and wide, with Wirtz tucked in closer to Alexander Isak. 

This lack of threatening width allowed Palace to remain compact in defence, with their wide right-centre-back Chris Richards not overly concerned with the presence of Kerkez. 

Half-time change boosts Liverpool

Slot’s answer at half-time was to bring Gakpo on for Conor Bradley, with Dominik Szoboszlai shifting to right-back again, and Kerkez instead sitting deeper to help snuff out the potential counter-attacks in which Mateta, Sarr and Pino were so dangerous. 

Liverpool were no doubt the dominant side after half-time, and Wirtz and Isak both came close in the early stages of the second half. 

A clever off-the-ball run from Wirtz saw him denied at close range by Dean Henderson, before Alexander Isak fired wide after some neat footwork had seen him work his way towards goal. Such is their quality, they would have been expected to score in both instances. 

Glasner elected to remove Sarr and Pino, both of whom had pressed tirelessly, with 15 minutes remaining. But this decision somewhat undermined his team’s counter-attacking capabilities, with the duo providing much of the side’s pace in attack. 

"Their game style fits really well to their players - they have a low block with fast players on the break and a big man in Mateta," Slot added. 

With Sarr and Pino now off the field, Liverpool were emboldened to inch closer and closer towards the Palace goal, and in the 87th minute they finally got their equaliser. 

Chiesa looked to be the hero again, just as he was in the opening game of the season against AFC Bournemouth, the ball falling to his feet after Richards was unable to clear a Gravenberch cross. 

It looked all but certain that Liverpool had again rescued a game against the odds, but rather than drop their heads, Palace instead continued attacking. 

Liverpool’s failure to successfully clear the ball following a long-range throw-in resulted in a 97th-minute winning goal from Nketiah, controlling the ball with his chest before firing a left-footed volley underneath Alisson with what was effectively the last kick of the game. 

Watch Nketiah's late winner

Timed at 96 minutes and 59 seconds, it was both the latest winning goal on record scored by Crystal Palace in the Premier League and the latest winner conceded by Liverpool in the competition. 

'We must blame ourselves'

"We can only blame ourselves by defending it the way we did," Slot said. "One of our players decided to run out because he wanted to play a counter-attack, which was of no use because time was up so it was only about defending. Maybe we were too offensively minded."

While the game was won late on, it was no doubt Palace’s first-half showing that gave them the confidence to keep attacking so late on. 

Oliver Glasner told BBC Match of the Day: "We deserved the win. We played an amazing first half and had a deserved lead. To overcome the pressure of Liverpool, they deserved an equaliser but I'm delighted at the reaction of our team. 

"Every player is so important, all the subs came on to help us to win the game. I am really proud of the performance. 

"We talk about our personality, we always go for the win. Everybody who is close to Crystal Palace got their reward today. The fans will have a great Saturday evening, as will the whole club. 

'That's why we love football'

"This is why we love football, having this at the end, in front of our fans, in front of the [Holmesdale] Stand, it was just so great. I wanted to run to the players, but after five yards I stopped, because I remember I conceded a yellow card once, and I have to pay something for the team, and my wife gets upset with me, so it's the better way!" Glasner added.

Palace have become a perennial midtable side in the Premier League, to the extent that, among their own fans, there is a meme centred on how often they find themselves in 12th in a variety of tables and rankings. Glasner was mindful of getting carried away.

“We're still in September, so nothing changes,” Glasner said. “Last year, maybe we were the only team that hadn’t won at this stage of the Premier League. We ended up with a points record and winning the FA Cup.

“That's why we're always humble. We take this positivity and positive feelings and emotions. It helps us to recover quicker, and it helps us in the daily work."

Glasner offers hope of a loftier, more ambitious future than mid-table security.

Today they showcased that they have what it takes to qualify for Europe this season, and they won’t need to win the FA Cup to do so. Who knows how high they can aim?