The scenes created by the final whistle revealed a severely painful week for Liverpool. Oliver Glasner’s triumph for Crystal Palace sends ripples across the table, and Jürgen Klopp congratulates him on it before puffing up his cheeks and shaking his head in disgust. Andy Robertson fell to his haunches, lost in thought. Silently, disappointed home fans filed out. Liverpool has made a mistake first in a title contest with the closest margins.
Eberechi Eze’s early goal rewarded Palace’s first-half supremacy and ultimately raised their prospects of Premier League safety as Liverpool fell again at Anfield in their resounding defeat at the hands of Atalanta in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday. It’s possible that the team that handed Klopp his first Premier League loss also destroyed his prospects of winning the title. For the first time since the Covid season behind closed doors in March 2021 and the first time in front of fans since January 2017, Liverpool has dropped two straight home games. The only squad to blame is the one that was fighting on four fronts a month ago—they were careless in the first half and wasteful in the second.
The Palace manager was ecstatic. “Congratulations to the team for the first-half performance when we played football with confidence and created chances.” “And for the zeal and determination we displayed in the second half as we held off a lot of pressure.” Liverpool was equally upset and shown by the two faces of the visitors.
Before the game began, Anfield had a heartfelt memorial service for the 97 Liverpool fans who were wrongfully slain at Hillsborough. On the eve of the 35th anniversary of the tragedy, there was a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims following a moving performance of You’ll Never Walk Alone. A mosaic with the number “97” also emerged on the Kop.
In response to the shocking Europa League loss, Klopp had promised a statement. Rather, Liverpool’s dismal first-half performance was more of the same. Once more, they displayed apathy, recklessness while in control, and lack of focus when playing defense. Alisson was suffering from a malaise as well, and this was his first start since he hurt his hamstring against Arsenal in February. Palace recovered well from their mistakes and were deserving of a bigger interval lead than they received.
The visitors, led by the incredibly talented Michael Olise and Eze, tore through Liverpool and particularly enjoyed themselves down their left against Ibrahima Konaté and Conor Bradley, who exited the game in the second half with what appeared to be ankle ligament damage. A superb passing move combining Adam Wharton, Olise, and Tyrick Mitchell from Palace split open Klopp’s team. Wataru Endo’s legs were used by the defender to drag the ball back from the byline, allowing Eze to sneak a precise finish past Liverpool’s starting goalkeeper. Virgil van Dijk and Konaté were slow to respond to the threat, which allowed Eze to run unmarked in front of the goal.
Liverpool had conceded first for the fourth time in their last five home Premier League games. This season, they have astonishingly gained 27 points from losing positions, but this time, there was no recovery from familiar ground.
Liverpool should have cleared their minds before Palace got a chance. Jean-Philippe Mateta was able to grab Eze’s pass and sprint through for the goal when Van Dijk slipped. The attacker tried to loft a shot over Alisson, but it lacked strength, and Robertson did a fantastic job of hooking clear on the line.
The only Liverpool player to perform at the necessary level during the first half was Robertson. Left-back Endo curled a corner against the crossbar of Palace. Additionally, the captain of Scotland sent in a beautifully timed cross for Luis Díaz, whose spectacular volley was saved by Dean Henderson.
During the halftime break, Klopp switched his team due to a ponderous Liverpool performance for the second time in four days. Dominik Szoboszlai took over for the weary Endo, bringing much-needed enthusiasm and accuracy where it had been severely lacking before. As a result, Liverpool much improved, but a terrible finale made Anfield’s suffering worse.
Darwin Núñez was presented with a fantastic opportunity after Van Dijk’s header from a Robertson corner fell to him. The Uruguayan international made a strong connection, but his shot from close range touched Henderson and went over. Mateta made a similar save from Alisson when the excellent Joachim Andersen headed a free-kick from Eze back across goal. With the goal gaping, the striker, who was only two yards out, turned his effort against the Brazilian and over.
Liverpool was also guilty of a number of implausible misses. When Szoboszlai drew Henderson and squared for the exceptionally clinical forward, Diogo Jota appeared set to score. Jota believed as much, but his first-time attempt struck Nathaniel Clyne, a former Liverpool defender, and rebounded wide.
When Cody Gakpo, who made an impression, played through on goal, Curtis Jones was responsible for the most glaring miss. The midfield player bounded wide after taking the ball in stride and looking up to see Henderson moving forward. After a punishing week, the superb Mitchell stopped a close-range shot from Mohamed Salah in the opening of seven minutes of stoppage time, but it was all the squad vying for the championship had to offer. Hopes for more silverware are dwindling.