Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool — Florian Wirtz scored his first Premier League goal of the season as Liverpool returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory at Selhurst Park on Sunday, a result that sends Crystal Palace bottom of the table. Alexis Mac Allister and Alexander Isak were also on target for the Reds, who bounced back from back-to-back defeats in style — even if the scoreline flattered them at times.
Liverpool had gone into the game on the back of a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal and a 3-2 Champions League loss at Fenerbahce, and for long spells at Selhurst Park they looked like a side still searching for its rhythm. Palace, by contrast, started brightly and had a goal chalked off for offside, hit the crossbar and forced Alisson Becker into several good saves. But the champions were ruthless when it mattered, and that was the difference — as former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge put it on TNT Sports: “It was massive. They didn’t perform to a high level, I thought they were just ruthless in front of goal.”
For the full picture of how the day was set up, read our Crystal Palace vs Liverpool preview.
Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool: Wirtz ends his 12-game wait
Palace’s bright start deserved a goal, and they thought they had one when the ball hit the net — only for the offside flag and a VAR check to cut the celebrations short. They also rattled the woodwork, and Alisson was called into action repeatedly to keep the scores level. But it was the familiar manner of the concession that will have frustrated Pierre Sage most: Mac Allister, unmarked, broke the deadlock in the 40th minute, nodding home a Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick from a set-piece.
Wirtz made it two nine minutes into the second half, directing a low Bradley Barcola cross that had evaded every Eagle in the penalty area into the bottom-left corner. It was the German’s first Premier League goal of the season, ending a 12-game league goal drought — his last in the competition had come against the same opponents back in April. For a £116m signing, it is not much of a return so far, but the relief on his face said everything, and every Liverpool fan will hope it is the start of more fruitful times for the 22-year-old.
The German then turned provider to tee up Isak, who cut inside and rifled home in the 89th minute to seal the points on the break. Palace did at least get on the scoresheet after Milos Kerkez was deemed to have fouled his opponent as he went up for a header, and substitute Eddie Nketiah delivered the consolation from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time with a cool top-corner finish. It was no more than a consolation — the result was never in doubt by then.
What the Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool result means for the table
The win takes Liverpool to 18 points, nine behind leaders Arsenal, and back into the chasing pack after a week in which their title defence looked to be wobbling. Alisson was named man of the match by Flashscore after a string of important stops, and that tells its own story: Liverpool won this game with their goalkeeper and their finishers, not with control.
For Palace, the defeat leaves them bottom of the Premier League after just two wins from their opening ten games. It is a fourth straight league defeat, and the pressure on Sage is mounting with every passing week. The Eagles were the better side for long stretches on Sunday and still lost 3-1 — that is the kind of result that turns a bad run into a crisis. Sage’s side had gone three league games without scoring before Nketiah’s late penalty, and while the spot-kick ended that particular drought, it did nothing to change the direction of their season.
Sage under pressure as Liverpool find their ruthless edge again
Arne Slot will not pretend this was a complete performance. Liverpool were second best for long periods, they conceded chances from set-pieces and open play alike, and they needed their goalkeeper at his best. But champions win games like this, and the sight of Wirtz and Isak both scoring — and Wirtz adding an assist — will encourage Slot more than any amount of possession would have.
Palace, meanwhile, are running out of time to turn promise into points. They created enough to win the game and left with nothing, and that is now the story of their season. If Sage is to survive, the Eagles need to start finishing the chances they are creating — because at the bottom of the table, performances without points buy a manager very little time.
For more on the weekend’s action, check today’s predictions. Read the official Liverpool match report for the club’s own account of the game.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons (CC0 — Florian Wirtz, Timmy96; Selhurst Park aerial CC BY-SA 3.0 de, Arne Müseler) — collage by SportsBuddy.
