Football's new tinkerman Jurgen Klopp helps Liverpool overcome Crystal Palace
Sophia Dalton Jurgen Klopp has become this season’s ‘tinkerman’ and it was his final two changes that inspired a late comeback victory for Liverpool against 10-man Crystal Palace, and kept his team’s title bid on track.
Liverpool manager Klopp made five changes from the side that beat Sheffield United on Wednesday night and made five more from the substitutes’ bench as he attempted to inject some life into his team at Selhurst Park.
Klopp has chopped and changed his team more than any other Premier League manager so far this season and the decision to send on substitutes Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones proved to be the turning point.
Liverpool have now won 18 points from losing positions this season, underlining the point that his team have the mentality to pull them through when performances are not quite up to scratch.
That was certainly the case on Saturday lunchtime, when Klopp admitted that his side were second best before the game flipped on its head following his substitutions.
Barely 60 seconds after replacing Darwin Nunez, Elliott was fouled by Jordan Ayew, which earned the Palace forward his second yellow card. And moments later, Jones, on for Dominik Szoboszlai, teed up Mohamed Salah to equalise with his 200th goal for Liverpool.
It was Elliott who then won the game for the visitors with a 20-yard shot in the first minute of time added on for stoppages that beat Palace’s substitute goalkeeper Remi Matthews after Sam Johnstone had gone off injured.
“The subs were super influential and made a super impact,” said Klopp. “That’s actually the story of the season so far, what we bring from the bench. From the last 14 minutes we deserved it, before then we deserved nothing.
“The bad thing about the amount of games we play is that it’s really tiring. The good thing is they all can play and they have to play, so we can make these kinds of moves like today. Because one is the player change and we changed the system. That helped as well. We tried everything and it worked out.”
Liverpool were also indebted to their returning goalkeeper Alisson Becker who made two superb saves, the second of which came in the 10th minute of time added on.
Saturday’s late comeback got Liverpool off the hook after it had appeared that Klopp’s dislike of 12.30pm kick-offs would be exacerbated by what would have been a first defeat in nine League games.
A Jean-Philippe Mateta penalty had threatened to put a sizable dent in Liverpool’s title bid and give Palace what would have been a timely boost.
It was one of the five players Klopp drafted in, Jarell Quansah, who conceded the unnecessary second-half penalty from which Palace substitute Mateta scored.
Klopp’s out-of-sorts side took until the 45th minute to register a shot on target and Becker had to be in top form to deny Jefferson Lerma.
Lerma’s effort was brilliantly saved by Alisson before the ball bounced on to the post and was cleared by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Moments later, Liverpool were relieved to see a penalty, awarded by referee Andy Madley for a supposed Virgil van Dijk foul on Odsonne Edouard, ruled out following a Var check for a foul in the build up by Will Hughes on Wataru Endo.
Mateta replaced Edouard at the break for the hosts and it was the substitute who was fouled by Quansah in an incident that went largely unnoticed.
Play continued without anybody knowing a Var check was taking place before Madley stopped play, went to the screen and quickly awarded a penalty that Mateta scored.
Liverpool struggled to respond until Klopp made his final two substitutions. Palace manager Roy Hodgson was booked for his protests against Ayew’s second yellow card and was annoyed by his first booking, which was awarded for getting in the way of a Van Dijk free-kick.
“Van Dijk took the opportunity to get him [Ayew] the first yellow card by firing the ball at him from a couple of yards away,” said Hodgson. “That’s disappointing. If you’re Liverpool Football Club, you don’t need players of Van Dijk’s quality and status in the game to try to get a player a yellow card by kicking the ball against him. And the second I thought was a good challenge. Even if deemed a foul, which it could have been, it wasn’t a yellow card.
“I’ve been in football a long time and I realise after things like today that when the day comes to leave it behind I won’t be missing anything.”
Crystal Palace 1 Liverpool 2: as it happened
Roy Hodgson speaks
We’ve had a lot of hard ones to take along the way and this is another one. I’ve got to say I’m gutted for the players because I’m gutted about the way the game panned out. Having to play with 10 men for the last 15-20 minutes was unbelievably harsh on us. I don’t think it was worthy of a red card the way we played. And the amount of fouls we committed was one or two less than Liverpool.
I probably deserved my yellow card [but the others weren’t all deserved].
It’s saddening for me to see how well the boys did against the odds and have to come away having lost.
Van Dijk took the opportunity to get him [Ayew] the first yellow card by firing the ball at him from a couple of yards away. That’s disappointing. If you’re Liverpool Football Club, you don’t need players of Van Dijk’s quality and status in the game to try to get a player a yellow card by kicking the ball against him. And the second I thought was a good challenge. Even if deemed a foul, which it could have been, it wasn’t a yellow card.
I’ve been in football a long time and I realise after things like today that when the day comes to leave it behind I won’t be missing anything.
I’ve never had any doubt about the players. We are going through a bad spell which looks like continuing after today. We have to survive it and get our players fit again.
These players will keep us in the Premier League but if you keep raising the barriers and say you want us to finish in the top 10 it will be very difficult [with these players and on this budget].
We have to reinforce in the centre of midfield. We’re light there after losing Doucoure. I am pleased with Richards and we need help in the eight positions. This squad will get us through but I should be standing here about a 1-1 but that performance has been turned into a 1-2.
I’m absolutely sick of refereeing and referees’ incentives. I’m sick about the hand ball interpretations, I’m sick about yellow cards for ‘time-wasting’, sick about player behaviour throughout the game. As coaches we’re trying to do our job, trying to get a bot of advice but every time you step forward, get close to me, the guy’s screaming at me to sit down.
I don’t understand why we have a referee out there who gives a penalty for the first one and changes it then doesn’t give a penalty for the second one and changes it. Is he refereeing the game or is it being refereed from an office.
I’m in a bad mood and you probably shouldn’t be talking to me.
Klopp speaks
They get the red card and we immediately get the equaliser and from that point on we played really well. We have had much more problems [in the past] against 10 men but we did it really well today. You saw that subs can make a massive difference. Actually it’s their job!
Harvey played a wonderful game, scored a wonderful goal. I am really happy for him. Curtis came on [and played well], Joe Gomez, oh my God! We changed system and worked them out.
I told the boys that is the first time we have played so badly for 76 minutes and still win it. In the spirit of the year we said after the Sheffield United game you get through it and have to get results.
I think this is a fair point
A lot is going to be made of Jordan Ayew's red card here but, while he was unfortunate to be the man punished, I think he paid the price for Crystal Palace's persistent fouling to stop counters. So it's unlucky, but you do always know the referee will draw the line eventually.
— David Lynch (@dmlynchlfc) December 9, 2023
Those 200 goals broken down
Mo Salah on his 200th goal
The most important thing is we won the game. When we win and I score it’s a great feeling. I am happy for the record and the win.
And Harvey Elliott on Salah:
My finish today has summed up what I learned from him. Ever since I came through the door he looked after me. He is a legend.
Full time Palace 1 Liverpool 2
Roy Hodgson is embraced by Jurgen Klopp and manages a smile but he must be fuming given the game turned on Ayew’s sending off. They were 1-0 up at the time, Liverpool had improved and were knocking after a rubbish first half but couldn’t open the door and then Salah struck to equalise before Elliott won it with a beauty. Palace didn’t deserve to lose but Liverpool’s ability to come from behind is a proper title-winning quality.
Liverpool go top of the Premier League.
90+12 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2
Liverpool scramble the first cone behind for another and then break from the second but can’t make it into the Palace galf because of fouls by Ward and Ahamada.
90+10 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2
Palace free-kick for a Lusi Diaz foul on Olise for which he is booked. Wide right, 25 yards out.
He bends it to the far post and Andersen meets it with a downward header, possibly from an offside position, and, Alisson saves at the foot of the right post. That was going in.
90+8 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2
Andersen clips Luis Diaz across the shin a few seconds after an earlier tangle was allowed to proceed without sanction by the referee.
90+7 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2
Now it’s Allez, Allez, Allez. The red card and the positive substitutions changed it around for Liverpool, Gakpo has done well on the right, switching with Salah and back again.
90+5 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2
A neat finish from Luis Diz, played in down the inside right with a cute reverse pass, is chalked off when the flag goes up and VAR corroborates the linesman’s judgment. How much more time will be played for that check?
90+3 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 2
Hodgson is slumped in his seat as Liverpool fans treat their players to a rousing Adeste Fideles ... but in Scouse not Latin.
GOAL!
Palace 1 Liverpool 2 (Elliott) Brilliant goal. Salah feeds it inside and it looked like it was the beginning of a one-two but Elliott dipped his shoulder, sent Mateta off to buy an Evening Standard, cut inside and fired an unstoppable left-foot shot in at the near post.
90+1 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1
It is 10 minutes of added time ...
90 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1
Matthews comes out to claim a cross. Looks assured under the high ball, which is always a relief.
88 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1
Good start by Matthews, blocking Gomez’s firm cross at the near post after Palace’s 10 men let the right-back through to the byline.
There might be as many as 10 minutes of added time after the Johnstone injury and Var checks.
Johnstone cannot go on
The 29-year old third keeper Remi Matthews comes on for his Premier League debut.
The 200 club
Mo Salah is the fifth double centurion for the Red Men.
346 - Ian Rush
285 - Roger Hunt
241 - Gordon Hodgson
228 - Billy Liddell
200 - Mohamed Salah
84 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1
Palace substitution: Ahamada ⇢ Schlupp. Lengthy delay whole Johnstone is treated for an injury to his left calf or ankle.
81 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1
Liverpool need to win to go top and Salah hits Clybe with another shot but this time the ball sails over for a corner.
79 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 1
Hodgson is booked for protesting the sending off. And Darren ‘call me Fletch’ Fletcher is incandescent on Palace’s behalf. No doubt that it has changed the game.
GOAL!
Palace 1 Liverpool 1 (Salah) Scores his 200th goal for Liverpool, a shot deflected by Clyne after great work from Gakpo down the right, cutting it back to Salah to strike with his right. Only Billy Liddell, Gordon Hodgson, Roger Hunt and the Everest of Ian Rush lie ahead of him now.
74 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0
Palace red card: Ayew sent off for a second yellow, a trip on Elliott on halfway, running across his line. Tepid and Hodgson matches Klopp for a look of acute sarcasm.
73 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0
Double Liverpool substitution Elliott and Jones replace Nunez and Szoboszlai. Van Dijk and Konate, who came on for Qaunsah, had just thwarted an Olise break.
71 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0
Booking for Richards for a ‘tactical’ foul. Alexander-Arnold takes 40 yards out and hangs it up to the far post. Nunez creeps round the back but tries to knock it in with the outside of his right boot instead of meeting it with a left-foot volley, and he knocks it straight out.
70 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0
Liverpool corner on the right. Alexander-Arnold takes but Palace hold their positions, mark tightly and give Van Dijk and Konate no chance of getting a clean header away.
68 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0
Olise will take the free-kick and he bends it straight down Alisson’s throat.
66 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0
Rio Ferdinand points out that Liverpool have taken 15 points from losing positions already this season. After a lengthy delay for treatment, Jefferson Lerma is substituted for Michael Olise.
63 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0
Palace fans are giving their song an airing, complete with foot stamping and banging the boards. Yellow card for Lerma. Palace go to 4-1-4-1 pretty quickly as soon as they lose the ball and then go man for man. Liverpool have been as bad as they were for long stretches of their match at Kenilworth Road. Klopp is going to go Tonto about the 12.30pm kick-off if they lose.
61 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0
End to end stuff as first Nunez misses a chance to get on the end of a long ball and then Schlupp scuffs a shot too close to Alisson.
59 min: Palace 1 Liverpool 0
Liverpool sent on Gakpo for Gravenberch before the penalty.
It was definitely a penalty, the only gripe being how long it took and why Madley missed it with the naked eye.
GOAL!!!
Palace 1-0 Liverpool (Mateta, pen). He gulls Alisson into diving to his right and thumps the ball down the middle. Good pen.
VAR tells Madley to go to the screen
Quansah definitely boots Mateta, swiping at the man not the ball.
And he awards the penalty to Palace, 90 seconds after the incident.
57 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Palace penalty shout when Johnstone drives a long diagonal up the left for Hughes to whip into the box and Mateta hits the deck as Quansah clears. The Var check goes on for minutes as play continues.
54 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Another quick counter from Palace up the left but Clyne and Lerma, who worked the opening well, cannot beat Alisson at the near post.
52 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Noticeably far more urgency from Liverpool but they are not succeeding yet in drawing Palace out of their shape. One side would be happy with a 0-0, one wouldn’t.
50 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Better from Liverpool to move the ball forward quickly and giving Luis Diaz an opportunity to shoot, a shot that was so poor that Nunez almost managed to get his head on it and turn it into a cross.
48 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Sorry if you had a punt on an Endo yellow card ... Makes sense to switch Alexander-Arnold to midfield. Palace free-kick inside the Liverpool half, pumped forward towards Guehi. Liverpool deal with it at the 18-yard line solidly.
46 min: Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Two changes: Gomez ⇢ Endo and Mateta ⇢ Edouard. Trent A-A moves into midfield and Gomez slots in at right back.
Half-time Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Palace have defended well and have threatened three or four times on the break. Liverpool have bossed possession but can’t, as yet, blow Palace’s house down. The away side’s midfield trio lack a bit of range with their passes which is why Klopp is bound to want Alexander-Arnold to ping a few more diagonals in the second half to get behind Ward and Clyne. Liverpool, so far, have created no clear cut chance.
45+4 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Alexander-Arnold, who has played as more of a right-back than a hybrid midfielder this half, uncharacteristically messes up one of his long passes and the Palace ultras give him a prolonged ‘Oooooooooooooooh, wahaaaaay!’
45+2 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Excellent block from Hughes, putting his goolies on the line as he jumped into Salah’s shot, deflects the ball out for another corner which, for the sixth or seventh time this half, Palace defend well.
45 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Luis Diaz injects some momentum with a gorgeous pass off his right towards the D and Gravenberch lays it off to Nunez who, instead of a first-time shot, cuts back inside and loses possession.
Five minutes of stoppage time go up on the board.
43 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Diligent defending from Schlupp, tracking back, gives Liverpool a corner that comes to naught as there was a shove in the box from Salah, I think.
When they haven’t got the ball, ‘wi’ art ball’ as Paul Heckingbottom has it, the wingers drop deep and Richards drops between the two centre-backs, making it very difficult to break the lines.
41 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Ward was booked a minute ago for a professional/cynical/tactical foul to thwart a Liverpool counter. Hodgson, more owl-like than ever, is smiling thinly in his technical area.
39 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Hughes is penalised for another foul on Endo, just catching his heels.
37 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Richards and Lerma are playing well in midfield, winning the ball and sparking counter-attacks. the latest of which sends Clyne down the left but his cross goes straight to Tsimikas and Liverpool clear. With those two elite terriers playing so well, perhaps Hodgson will give himself more chance to slip Edouard in with Olise for Hughes later on.
34 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
On Wednesday night Sheff Utd fans sang ‘Premier League, corrupt as f---‘ when James McAtee wasn’t given a penalty against Liverpool and now Palace fans sing ‘F--- VAR’ when their penalty is rescinded.
No penalty
Hard to disagree. Endo was fouled by Hughes and without it Hughes couldn’t have won the ball. Van Dijk’s yellow card is also voided. Took an age to make a pretty straightforward call, though.
Why is it taking so long, it’s a foul!
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) December 9, 2023
Penalty shout for Crystal Palace but the decision was overturned upon review ❌
Virgil van Dijk's yellow card also rescinded 🟨
Was this the right decision?
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 9, 2023
Ridiculous delay while we wait for the referee
Three minutes now. He watched it in slo-mo a couple of times but now wants to see it a full speed.
The evidence of Hughes' foul is pretty clear cut
And the referee goes to the screen, Hughes hooked his leg around from behind and kicked him on the shin.
Palace penalty?!
Var check for a Virgil van Dijk foul. Liverpool say that Hughes fouled Endo from behind to win the ball back to play it up to Edouard.
27 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Superb save from Alisson after Richards wins the ball in midfield and feeds Ayew down the right. This time his cross is perfect and Lerma meets it 10 yards out beyond the back post and thunders a low shot inside the near post and Alisson dives to his right to block and then the ball spins wildly towards the line and Alexander-Arnold scrambles it away.
25 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Palace free-kick on halfway as the niggly fouls from Gravenberch and Endo start to mount. Ward chips it long into the box and Szoboszlai heads it clear.
23 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Tsimikas is penalised for a foul on Ayew and Palace work the free-kick into the left corner to win a corner. The cross is looped towards the penalty spot and Andersen, well-marked, can only head it up, far more vertical direction than horizontal and Liverpool clear, looking for Luis Diaz on a one-man break, but the pass is held up by the wind.
20 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Palace win the ball in the inside-left channel and Edouard then opens his body to play it out to Ayew on the right before bombing forward into the box. But Ayew’s cross is behind both Edourad and Schlupp and Liverpool deal with it easily to begin another long phase of controlled possession.
18 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Clyne reads Szoboszlai’s sliding pass down the right well to cut out the ball to Salah. Palace’s defence is well organised and drilled. Liverpool are going to need a lock-picker or blow the b------ doors off with sustained pressure.
16 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Ayew and Edouard throw themselves courageously in the way of Gravenberch’s shot from the corner and Palace win a free-kick out on the left as Liverpool tried to retrieve the ball.
14 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
A big, orange think suddenly appears in the sky. What could it be? Utterly unfamiliar visitor over this horribly bleak and wet autumn/winter.
Good defensive header from Ward at the back-post, the deflection on Alexander-Arnold’s cross giving him the opportunity to nip ahead of him.
13 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Edouard’s tenacity on the right by the byline earns them a corner on the other side from his deep cross. Palace ask for a penalty for a Quansah hand-ball from the corner but it was no such thing and Liverpool break like a swarm of wasps, Ward doing well to slow Salah down successfully until reinforcements arrive to stop the thrust of the attack.
10 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Lerma wins the ball in a tackle but Schlupp dawdles on it and cuts back into a congested midfield and Alexander-Arnold robs him to give Salah a chance to stretch his legs. Nothing comes of it, though. Then Palace are cut apart by three slick passes around the box … but Salah was offside when the ball fell to him on the right of the box.
8 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
It’s blowing a gale to add to the difficulty and from a free-kick just inside the Liverpool half, they knock one into the wind that swirls as it drops erratically in the box. Liverpool clear.
6 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Lots of ball for Liverpool down the left so far, running at Ward rather than their former team-mate out of position at left-back. S far Andersen and Ward have coped well with Tsimikas and Luis Diaz.
4 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Hughes tackles Endo in the centre-circle and tries to slide Edouard in behind with a straight pass between the centre-backs but Edouard didn’t have the acceleration to get there. Poor pass, in truth.
3 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Tsimikas sets himself for a shot when the ball breaks to him 25 yards out from a block tackle. He hits it with the front of his laces and slices across it.
1 min Palace 0 Liverpool 0
Liverpool work the ball back to Alisson after Palace go long from the kick-off. Pretty clear, as the estimable Lucy Ward says, that they will stick to their ‘vertical’ strategy today, targeting Edouard to give Quansah and Van Dijk a rough-housing, if he can.
The rain is covering the lenses of the pitchside cameras
As the teams walk out of the tunnel in the corner. Palace in red and blue, Liverpool in their Bristol Rovers green and white tribute third kit.
Alisson is back in goal
Blogger's tip
If you are having a wager ... Endo always looks nailed on for a yellow card.
A Palace fan is vox popped and asked what he wants
‘A new manager, new ideas and someone who believes in youth.’
The caretaker dilemma
Good afternoon. Bagchi here. Thanks to Pippa Field for starting the blog. Steve Parish is said to remain supportive of Roy Hodgson but I wonder if he may also feel that he has fallen for successful caretaker syndrome and given the job to, yes, a known and trusted coach yet someone who, at his age, was ideal for the caretaker role of galvanising them before a relegation fight and not suited to this task – satisfying supporters who are crying out for entertainment to match their passion. Even the best caretakers – Tony Parkes, Tony Barton, Roberto Di Matteo – fall apart when give the reins of a remodelling job.
I hear some pundits telling Palace fans to be careful of what they wish for … nuts, to that. A thin gruel of survival is ultimately enervating. Give them something to believe in. Give them goals and flair and buzz and ambition and optimism. And don’t drop Michael Olise for a start or get ratty about supporters being spoiled.
Team news
Roy Hodgson opts for just two changes from the midweek defeat by Bournemouth. Will Hughes gets the nod ahead of Michael Olise while former Liverpool right-back Nathanial Clyne comes in for Tyrick Mitchell.
As for Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp switches things up with five changes. Alisson returns in goal with Jarrel Quansah and Kostas Tsimikas coming into defence. Alexis Mac Allister misses out through injury, with his place taken by Ryan Gravenberch. And Darwin Nunez gets the nod in place of Cody Gakpo.
Teams in black and white
Crystal Palace: Johnstone, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Ward, Lerma, Richards, Hughes, Ayew, Edouard, Schlupp.
Subs: Tomkins, Olise, Matheus Franca, Mateta, Ebiowei, Ahamada, Matthews, Riedewald, Ozoh.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Endo, Gravenberch, Salah, Nunez, Diaz. Subs: Gomez, Konate, Jones, Gakpo, Elliott, Doak, McConnell, Kelleher, Bradley.
Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire)
Liverpool to go top?
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Pressure on Hodgson
It’s Crystal Palace vs Liverpool to kick off the Premier League weekend with Jurgen Klopp’s team knowing victory at Selhurst Park would send them top of the table, for a few hours at least.
Roy Hodgson will be in the dugout against his former club but pressure is building on his position, with the midweek defeat against Bournemouth putting him under added scrutiny. That was Palace’s third consecutive loss at home, with their last victory on their own patch being a 3-2 win over Wolves at the start of September.
Hodgson, who steered Palace away from relegation trouble last season, has since said he regrets calling supporters ‘spoiled’ after they jeered his players off in midweek.
“I am distressed by my comments and choice of word, which I bitterly regret,” he said. “I would be devastated if they didn’t think I appreciated them. I can understand their frustration so I owe them an apology because they’ve been so good to me during my five years at the club.
“Everyone came to the game thinking we’d get some points on the board, so to have that hope taken away by a combination of things is hard. We didn’t play nearly as close as we wanted to do, but it’s gone now and we have to get over it.”
It does not bode well for Hodgson’s team this lunchtime, however, with Crystal Palace winless in their 12 Premier League matches against Liverpool, losing 10, since a 2-1 victory at Anfield in April 2017. Their most recent top-flight home victory in this fixture came all the way back in November 2014.
Some early teams news for Liverpool fans too - Alisson is back in goal after missing the last three games through a hamstring injury. Alexis Mac Allister is not involved after picking up an injury in midweek.
