Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool: Reds bounce back to increase pressure on Sage

Liverpool they returned to winning ways as they produced a clinical display to see them struggle Crystal Palace 3-1 and piles the pressure on his boss Pierre Sage.

Andoni Iraola’s men traveled to Selhurst Park on the back of back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Fenerbahce, and were unconvincing for long spells in south London.

Indeed, Liverpool were credited with a fine performance from goalkeeper Alisson, who made a string of saves in both halves to frustrate the struggling visitors.

And Liverpool punished Palace for their blunder when Alexis Mac Allister headed them in just before the break, with Florian Wirtz doubling things nine minutes after the restart.

Alexander Isak put the game beyond doubt late on, before Eddie Nketiah grabbed a consolation for Palace from the penalty spot.

Liverpool is fourth in the Premier League following Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, with the pair of results leaving Palace bottom after an eighth consecutive game without a win in all competitions.

With the Eagles bottom of the table heading into the international break, Sage’s hopes of keeping his job look slim.

Dominik Szoboszlai drew a fine save from Dean Henderson early on when the Palace keeper turned his low effort onto the post, before Yeremy Pino hit the bar at the other end.

Palace looked the more threatening for much of the first half and looked set to break the deadlock when Jorgen Strand Larsen poked home after Pino saw a shot blocked, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.

Daichi Kamada was denied by Alisson, and Liverpool capitalized on those qualifiers when a well-worked free-kick saw Mac Allister head home at the near post from Szoboszlai’s cross.

Alisson then thwarted Quinten Timber and Adam Wharton before Ronald Araujo missed a second for Liverpool at point-blank range after Jeremy Jacquet had flicked on Szoboszlai’s corner.

But Liverpool doubled their lead shortly after the interval, Wirtz stepping in to score his first Premier League goal of the season as he headed Bradley Barcola’s cross into the far post into the bottom left corner.

Palace faded as a threat as Liverpool managed the second half with little difficulty and, after spurning a one-on-one chance with Henderson, Isak made no mistake as another gilt-edged chance fell, Wirtz teeing up the Swedish striker, who sent two defenders tumbling to the turf with some fine footwork before finding the net with a deflection.

The hosts were given something to cheer about as Milos Kerkez was fouled in the box during an aerial duel, allowing Nketiah to step up and make it a more respectable score with the last strike of the game.

Premier League table

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