It was one of those games that will be
spoken of for years to come, but not in Liverpool or amongst Liverpool fans
where a deathly hush will descend over any conversation that even touches on
the incredible Crystal Palace comeback where they earned a 3-3 draw and
all but sealed Manchester City’s title.
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| Peter Cormack... or is it? |
Even before the game there were mixed
signals from Brendan Rodgers, who at first cited Chelsea’s final day 8-0
thrashing of Wigan in their title success of 2010. Indeed Rodgers later
backtracked somewhat by claiming he had been preaching patience all along and
immediately before the match said he would be more than happy with a 1-0 win.
Against any other top side that would have been a mere consolation, a signal for the winning team to realise they had scored enough and that playing out time while at least trying to dampen the ardour of a wild home support by running the clock down. Not a bit of it for this Liverpool.
Philippe Coutinho had already replaced Sterling in one of those hardly essential substitutions that nine times out of 10 results in little more than a brisk run-out for the newcomer and the briefest of rests for the player leaving the field. On this occasion it felt like Liverpool tied one hand behind their back.
Palace scored another quickly, and suddenly the impossible was possible. Even in a Liverpool supporter’s worst nightmares, surely the new league leaders were not about to squander a three-goal cushion? That’s exactly what transpired.
Now wounded almost beyond comprehension, there were one or two close calls namely a Moses air shot from 10 yards but little in the way of a genuine chance to reclaim victory. Suarez was in tears at the end, and I’m sure he was not the only one.
What can you say? What can anyone say? There may be some who claim this is why people watch football and that Liverpool’s complete lack of pragmatism was a moral victory, sustenance for the soul even.
There will be others, and count me among them, who found it unforgivable.
The manager's post-match words sum it up for everybody: “We have to see the game out better than that. You cannot come here against a very good side, be the threat that we were and then defend as we did. It is criminal really”. I would say kamikaze!
He spoke as if this were the only time Liverpool have endangered all their good work in attack by shabby defending, but it isn’t even close to being the first instance.
All the while Liverpool supporters were worried that the Chelsea plan of beating the Reds was about to be copied by everybody else, yet now it might be little Crystal Palace and stolid Tony Pulis that supply the blueprint.
Once other teams realise that going up against this team at full speed can get you rewards from any position, no matter how dire, then Rodgers has a job on his hands to stem the various tides coming Liverpool’s way.
True, Jordan Henderson has been a big miss in recent matches but the manager nominated Lucas Leiva as his replacement for all three games and he has been found woeful and wanting.
Booked: Dann, Mariappa.
Booked: Allen, Suarez, Skrtel.
In the early stages there seemed little
danger of that materialising as Palace dragged every man back behind the ball,
trying to follow the Jose Mourinho script. Liverpool did indeed show patience
and came close from such unusual sources as Mamadou Sakho and Glen Johnson -
the last name seemed to be upended in the box. However, referee Mark
Clattenburg was not to be as generous as he had been at Old Trafford when he
awarded Liverpool three penalties.
Palace had not conceded any set-piece
goals under the leadership of Pulis so it was welcome surprise that the opening
goal came from a corner and from the head of the diminutive Joe Allen too. It
didn’t make much impact on the game’s pattern, as the home side simply lay deep
in wait hoping for the visitors to make a mistake. This happened on several
occasions but fortunately Simon Mignolet was ready for the couple of
long-distance efforts which followed.
We ended the first half in the
ascendancy, and should have scored another. We had not won a game 1-0 for
over eight months, so the chances of it staying that way in a season that has
been three quarters delight, one quarter despair, were slim to say the least.
Early in the second half a
previously subdued Daniel Sturridge made it 2-0 via a deflection.
The rush to get the ball back on the centre spot for Palace to restart showed
the players had taken their manager’s initial fanciful claim to heart and were
prepared to do their darndest in order to give Manchester City a longer run for
their money.
The third from Luis Suarez, beautifully
combining with Raheem Sterling, threatened to open the floodgate to a
defence that had seemed highly resistant in the game’s opening exchanges.
Suarez should have had a penalty too, but it mattered little; 3-0 was
enough, or so we thought.
After a 10-15 minute buzz, however,
reality seemed to set in and yet we were still practically playing Johnson as a
right winger. Unfortunately, one of his other jobs is to defend and
having turned ocean liner like towards Damien Delaney diverted a
speculative shot past a despairing Mignolet.Against any other top side that would have been a mere consolation, a signal for the winning team to realise they had scored enough and that playing out time while at least trying to dampen the ardour of a wild home support by running the clock down. Not a bit of it for this Liverpool.
Philippe Coutinho had already replaced Sterling in one of those hardly essential substitutions that nine times out of 10 results in little more than a brisk run-out for the newcomer and the briefest of rests for the player leaving the field. On this occasion it felt like Liverpool tied one hand behind their back.
Palace scored another quickly, and suddenly the impossible was possible. Even in a Liverpool supporter’s worst nightmares, surely the new league leaders were not about to squander a three-goal cushion? That’s exactly what transpired.
Now wounded almost beyond comprehension, there were one or two close calls namely a Moses air shot from 10 yards but little in the way of a genuine chance to reclaim victory. Suarez was in tears at the end, and I’m sure he was not the only one.
What can you say? What can anyone say? There may be some who claim this is why people watch football and that Liverpool’s complete lack of pragmatism was a moral victory, sustenance for the soul even.
There will be others, and count me among them, who found it unforgivable.
The manager's post-match words sum it up for everybody: “We have to see the game out better than that. You cannot come here against a very good side, be the threat that we were and then defend as we did. It is criminal really”. I would say kamikaze!
He spoke as if this were the only time Liverpool have endangered all their good work in attack by shabby defending, but it isn’t even close to being the first instance.
All the while Liverpool supporters were worried that the Chelsea plan of beating the Reds was about to be copied by everybody else, yet now it might be little Crystal Palace and stolid Tony Pulis that supply the blueprint.
Once other teams realise that going up against this team at full speed can get you rewards from any position, no matter how dire, then Rodgers has a job on his hands to stem the various tides coming Liverpool’s way.
True, Jordan Henderson has been a big miss in recent matches but the manager nominated Lucas Leiva as his replacement for all three games and he has been found woeful and wanting.
Meanwhile, Johnson, the full-back the
Brazilian was meant to protect, continues to play beneath his ability;
something that has not gone unnoticed either by Liverpool fans.
The borderline bedlam of Liverpool’s
play that bubbled under the surface for months has now erupted quite violently
at the worst possible time, and yet we are still top of the league! It is the
season’s one remaining solace for our bewitched, bothered and bewildered
supporters; that the madness of 2013-14 could have one last outbreak of
insanity.
Strap yourselves in, before somebody
else does it for you. We need divine assistance from Aston Villa or our dream
is finally over for another season.
CRYSTAL PALACE: Speroni, Mariappa,
Delaney, Dann, Ward, Jedinak, Dikgacoi, Bolasie, Ledley,
Puncheon(Gayle 65) Chamakh(Murray 71)Booked: Dann, Mariappa.
Goals: Delaney 79, Gayle 81, 88
LIVERPOOL: Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel,
Sakho, Flanagan, Gerrard, Allen, Lucas, Sterling(Coutinho 78), Suarez,
Sturridge.Booked: Allen, Suarez, Skrtel.
Goals: Allen 18, Sturridge 53, Suarez
55
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Attendance:25,261
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