JURGEN KLOPP saw his hopes of a historic quadruple blown to pieces in the space of six days in 2022.
And now Liverpool’s treble bid looks to have fallen apart in less than four days.
It was a desperately disappointing day for LiverpoolReuters
Eberechi Eze scored for Crystal Palace in the 14th minuteRex
RexA wonderfully worked move ended with a tidy finish from Eze[/caption]
Jurgen Klopp was left thoroughly frustrated as his title hopes suffered a massive blowReuters
It was another below-par performance from LiverpoolReuters
Liverpool failed to turn their possession into goals
Liverpool dominated the second half but failed to convert their chances
A 3-0 quarter-final first leg loss to Atalanta on Thursday means that barring a miracle, Liverpool will not be featuring in the Europa League final in Dublin next month.
And now, a 14th minute winner from Eberechi Eze which handed Palace a stunning win and will have been greeted with cheers from Manchester City and Arsenal fans.
Liverpool have been kings of the comeback this season but not here against a Palace team who put in a proper shift.
For Reds fans, these nightmare few days are like two years ago when, having won both domestic Cups, they were pipped to the title on the final day by Manchester City before losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid in Paris.
Like the previous week against Manchester United, Liverpool paid the price for not taking their chances.
Equally, Palace’s back five defended brilliantly and both Adam Wharton and Will Hughes were outstanding in central midfield.
Liverpool’s finishing was absolutely shocking. Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones all missed sitters in the season half and Jean-Philippe Mateta should also have put Palace 2-0 up .
Meanwhile, this game was the latest proof that Mo Salah does not look the same player since returning from injury and he also failed to stick away a good chance in injury time.
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Liverpool spurned a host of chances in front of goalAP
It was a famous win for Oliver Glasner’s Palace sideReuters
Conor Bradley also went off injured in another blow for LiverpoolReuters
Liverpool spent much of the game inside Palace’s half
Liverpool’s next five games in all competitions
Oliver Glasner’s team had not won in their previous five matches and had managed just a solitary victory in nine games.
So it is fair to say not many of the Palace fans who made the journey to the north-west would have expected a hugely important win which has seriously eased their relegation worries.
There was a minute’s silence before the game to mark 35 years of the Hillsborough disaster
Alisson, who had missed the previous 15 games with a hamstring injury, was back in the place of Caoimhin Kelleher.
Yet the Red’s problems started following a poor pass by Alisson which Robertson kicked out for a throw.
Palace kept possession in an incredible 21-pass move which drifted from the right over to the left and resulted in Tyrick Mitchell cutting the ball back for Eze.
The marking at the back was dreadful and there was a huge amount of space between Alisson and van Dijk, which gave Eze an easy chance to score with a first-time shot.
Klopp grimaced as he watched the goal and little wonder.
Anfield was left in silence and it could have got even worse. Virgil van Dijk delivered a slip reminiscent of Steven Gerrard’s famous mistake against Chelsea a decade ago. And the Dutchman was thankful that Andy Robertson scrambled back to produce a brilliant goal-line block to keep out an effort from Jean-Phillipe Mateta.
Robertson was Liverpool’s best player and it was from one of his corners which saw Wataru Endo lift a shot against the bar.
The Scottish international then delivered another perfect cross which saw Palace keeper Dean Henderson brilliantly flick over a flying effort from Luis Diaz.
At half-time, Klopp introduced Dominik Szoboszlai for the hopeless Endo and then shortly into the second half, was forced to give Alexander-Arnold his long-awaited run-out due to an injury to Conor Bradley.
You knew it was not Liverpool’s today when Darwin Nunez somehow failed to score at point-blank range when he blasted a shot straight at Henderson,
And with Henderson beaten, Diogo Jota looked certain to score but his strike was blocked by Nathaniel Clyne.
Mateta also wondered how he failed to make it 2-0 but from a couple of yards out, he was denied by Alisson
Jones blazed wide and Salah should have scored but his effort was blocked by Mitchell.
At the end, you only had to look on the faces of Klopp and the players who know they have shot themselves in the foot.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s return to the side ended in dismayPA”}]]