Liverpool one step from coronation after tearing Palace apart
LIVERPOOL 4 CRYSTAL PALACE 0
JURGEN KLOPP can almost see his reflection glistening in the Premier League trophy now.
A performance of champions against Crystal Palace took Liverpool closer to the end of their 30 year crusade. One more win will do it. One more failure by Manchester City will do it quicker.
This was as comprehensive a victory as Klopp’s side have enjoyed all season, a highlights package of everything great and good which built up such a formidable points advantage.
How appropriate it will be if this is the performance that ends the wait.
The Kop can lament not being here to witness it, but listen hard and you’d swear you could hear the rapturous applause from the neighbouring terraces as Sadio Mane picked his spot for Liverpool’s fourth midway through the second half.
Klopp could only tick the boxes in praise of all the qualities, here witnessing all those so prominent prior to the season’s interruption.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, scorer of the first, once more showed why describing him as a mere right back is an insult; Mohamed Salah’s lethal finishing ensured possession was rewarded with attacking penetration; and Fabinho’s thorough dominance of every blade of grass was a reminder if it was not for an early season injury, he would be a rival to his captain for Player of the Year.
Palace are not a bad side, but the early loss of Wilfried Zaha through injury left them feeling captive in their own half. Once Liverpool took the lead through an Alexander-Arnold free-kick, it was a forlorn rearguard action. By the closing stages, Klopp was in the privileged position of being able to blood some of his youngsters.
A couple of favourable results involving Crystal Palace and Chelsea and the Anfield wait for the Premier League title would end at Manchester City’s expense.
Liverpool had been here before. Ask Brendan Rodgers, Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez. For 2014, read 2020. Six years ago Palace and Chelsea were direct obstacles, a solitary point from back-to-back fixtures plucking the trophy from Kop hands.
Liverpool needed to beat Palace and hope for a Chelsea win or draw against City tonight this time.
Without the pull of the Kop, Klopp and his players knew they had to see this out alone, and the intensity of their start demonstrated a determination not to extend the date of their coronation.
Liverpool were unimpressive in their comeback game, Klopp attributing that to the nature of the Merseyside derby, rather than cause for concern.
He needed some reassurance here, assisted by the return of Mo Salah and Andy Robertson, sorely missed at Goodison Park. They showed how transformative their presence was within minutes, Palace’s defenders in a perpetual backwards motion.
Georginio Wijnaldum dragged wide after eight minutes, and Jordan Henderson volleyed over Mane’s perfectly weighted cross as an opening goal looked inevitable.
It came from a familiar source, Alexander-Arnold again indulging in the kind of free-kick David Beckham made his forte. Jordan Ayew had taken it upon himself to commit so many fouls on the edge of the penalty area, one wondered if he was deliberately trying to ensure keeper Wayne Hennessey was overemployed.
Alexander-Arnold picked his spot and sped off to an imaginary crowd. It was the first of several strikes that deserved more than an eerie splattering of applause from the directors’ box and the home side’s dugout.
By then, Palace were bereft of Zaha, a player who has often excelled in this stadium. Their counter-attacking plan was compromised, the occasional dash from Patrick van Aanholt and Andros Townsend showing what was possible if Liverpool switched off.
They looked leggy and short of ideas. James McCarthy and James McArthur have formed a winning midfield duo at Anfield before, but that was eight years ago for Wigan Athletic. Mamadou Sakho knows his way around the stadium, too, but his propensity to see every clearance as a backheel-in-waiting is one of the reasons Klopp sold him.
Ecstasy
Shortly after Salah provided the cushion of a second after Fabinho’s defence-splitting pass – the Egyptian controlling and slamming past Hennessey to keep his golden boot “threepeat” bid intact – there were fireworks beyond the stadium. This was the only nod to the ecstasy of the watching TV audience.
In this of all venues, in this of all times, you cannot help but imagine what it would have been like with spectators instead of flags. Liverpool charged for more immediately after the break, Salah an inch away after another Sakho error and Robertson striking over from the edge of the penalty area.
The third was spectacular, Fabinho unleashing from 30 yards to underline his excellence. Look closely and perhaps the legends on the banners on the Kop offered a sage nod of approval.
“Our Club. Our Crest. Our Life,” read the most prominent flag, decorated with the image of every Liverpool manager since 1959. Except one. Presumably Roy Hodgson understands.
When Salah sent Mane through for the fourth, minds could already drift to Stamford Bridge.
A Chelsea win or draw to give Liverpool the title? Steven Gerrard might see the irony in that. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
Klopp could only tick the boxes in praise of all the qualities, here witnessing all those so prominent prior to the season’s interruption