Lallana has last laugh at Palace
Liverpool f ight back to end Pardew’s run and dispel the myth of Selhurst Park jinx
SO there is no curse of Selhurst Park and meeting Crystal Palace in the FA Cup holds no special fear now for Liverpool.
Having quietened one unhappy spirit from a past life en route to the fifth round by beating Wimbledon, Liverpool returned to south London yesterday, to the venue where their title hopes disintegrated last season, to face the team which still celebrates beating them 4-3 in an FA Cup semi-final in 1990.
Ultimately they prevailed, but not without the odd scare.
Liverpool are not yet so strong and confident that they can dismiss superstition surrounding a jinxed team and venue with the authority of an assured sceptic. After all, they lost 3-1 here only in November.
But by the end they were at least passing the ball around their oppo- nents and looking as if they might have faith in themselves. Shaky faith, perhaps, given the cajoling Simon Mignolet had to give his defenders as Palace pressed for an equaliser at the end.
With a mere one-goal lead, Liverpool never looked totally secure and Palace played well enough to induce a few jitters.
Still, Liverpool progressed, thanks to goals from Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana and a second-half appearance by Mario Balotelli. Steven Gerrard is out injured but he can still dream of a Wembley send off in May.
But when Alan Pardew’s teams are at their best, they do cause good sides considerable problems. They harass their opponents constantly and break extremely quickly. And with Yannick Bolasie and Dwight Gayle perfect outlets for such a system, Palace always looked a threat.
Martin Skrtel was having one of those games where marshalling a back three looked to be a thankless task. Palace had space aplenty in which to drive and Skrtel it was whom was left exposed.
The opening goal came from his mistake in the 17th minute. Joe Ledley chipped in a teasing ball and the Liverpool defender neither met it, nor cleared it but simply allowed it to skim off his head to the onrushing Gayle, who nodded it goalwards.
Mignolet smothered that effort but only cleared the ball to Fraizer Campbell, who drove it into the net.
Skrtel again got himself in a muddle in the 43rd minute, failing to clear and allowing the ball to ricochet off him towards Gayle. It felt like a defining moment: with just Mignolet to beat Gayle shot low but saw it saved by the foot of the keeper. A two-goal lead would have surely all but finished Liverpool.
In between those two moments of drama, Liverpool maintained plenty of possession but failed to break down Palace enough.
They felt they should have had a penalty when Senegalese debutant Pape Souare clumsily challenged Sturridge in the box in the 33rd minute. He probably got a toe to the ball but took an almighty risk in doing so. They also claimed Joel Ward had handled the ball in the 25th minute and he had indeed lain on top of it momentarily but seemingly without using his hands.
Liverpool had a number of strikes, mainly from long range, which kept Julian Speroni exercised. The best came from closer range, from Lallana in the 22nd minute, when fed by Jordan Henderson, which produced an excellent reaction save.
But Henderson in the 30th minute and Philippe Coutinho in the 39th also tried from longer distances but found Speroni no less alert.
Credit though to Liverpool and to Brendan Rodgers. They never tire of passing the ball, in a blind confidence that their technical superiority will eventually yield results.
They started the second half in the same manner − and with the added threat of Balotelli brought off the bench for Lazar Markovic − and were patiently nurturing their buildup play until they found Henderson
on the edge of the box in the 49th minute.
He delivered a delightful dipping cross aimed at Sturridge. It was a lovely piece of skill but there was still much to do. Sturridge simply fixed his eyes on the ball, disregarded the players around him and struck a low volley past Speroni. For a man who had five months out, he is finishing remarkably cleanly and consistently.
Palace continued to press Liverpool and threaten but there was a more confident swagger about the visitors than in the first half.
So assured were they that even Balotelli was allowed a free-kick in the 58th minute. With Skrtel as the decoy, he drove it through the Palace wall forcing Speroni to parry. First to the scene was the onrushing Lallana, who finished from close range.
Palace were anything but crushed. They tried to come back but the cushion of a goal lead enabled Liverpool to sit deeper than before and so chances were few.
They needed inspiration and Selhurst Park’s mood lifted when Wilfried Zaha came on with 19 minutes left, tasked with unlocking a now solid-looking Liverpool defence. Sadly for Palace, the visitors stood firm.