Crystal Palace shocks Liverpool at Anfield
The Eagles’ 10 victory lands a fatal blow on Klopp & Co.’s title aspirations; a first home loss in 29 games puts the Reds two points behind Manchester City
Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge suffered a potentially fatal blow as Crystal Palace won 10 at Anfield on Sunday.
A first home league defeat in 29 games for the Reds leave Jurgen Klopp’s men two points behind Manchester City and level with Arsenal, which can go top with victory over Aston Villa later on Sunday.
Eberechi Eze’s early goal handed the Eagles a vital win in its battle for survival as it moves eight points clear of the drop zone.
However, Liverpool’s final season under Klopp is unravelling. The League Cup winner was on course for a quadruple just a few weeks ago. But after crashing out of the FA Cup to Manchester United, Liverpool succumbed to a first home defeat in any competition for 14 months when Atalanta stormed Anfield on Thursday to take a 30 first leg lead in their Europa League quarterfinal tie.
Klopp’s men have now won just three of their last eight games in all competitions and are showing clear signs of fatigue after already having played 51 games this season.
Alisson Becker made his longawaited return in goal for the home side but he had no chance when Eze was left with a simple finish from Tyrick Mitchell’s cross.
Palace were millimetres away from a second moments later when Andy Robertson produced a remarkable goalline clearance to deny JeanPhilippe Mateta after Virgil van Dijk’s slip let the French striker through. Mohamed Salah had one final chance to at least snatch a point, but his goalbound effort was brilliantly blocked by Mitchell in stoppage time.
Unless Liverpool produce a stunning fightback against Atalanta in midweek, Klopp will have just two more games at Anfield before his momentous reign comes to an end.
But what looked like it could be a glorious goodbye is now at danger of turning into a damp squib.
In LaLiga, Joao Felix netted a brilliant bicycle kick to earn depleted Barcelona a 10 win at relegationthreatened Cadiz on Saturday as manager Xavi Hernandez rested key players ahead of its Champions League quarterfinal against Paris St Germain.
Barca moved to 70 points, eight behind leader Real Madrid.
Barca dominated the early stages and Felix scored the winner in the 37th minute with a stunning strike, pouncing on a rebound from a corner to acrobatically volley home.