Alan Pardew had a seriously affronted coupon as he stomped down the tunnel. Palace looked comfortable against 10 men until Alex McCarthy’s unfortunate slip, and after that The Fear kicked in. They probably deserved a draw, though Liverpool were excellent after James Milner was sent off. Thanks for your company, bye!
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That all happened so quickly that I didn’t get to describe the penalty decision. There are approximately 100 per cent of Palace fans who will think it was a dive from Benteke. It’s hard to be absolutely certain. Delaney slid in – a silly decision because Benteke was going nowhere – and may have brushed Benteke’s left foot with his knee or thigh. Andre Marriner didn’t have a great view, but after consulting with the assistant referee he gave it. At first I thought it was a dive, but the second replay suggested he may have clipped him. I can see both sides!
Edit: the more you see it, the more it looks like a clear penalty.
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Full time: Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Peep peep!
It was a great penalty from Benteke. He strolled up, dummied to shoot, and then as McCarthy went down he passed it gently into the other side of the net.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool (Benteke 90+5min)
Benteke scores with the last kick of the game!
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PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL!
In the last minute of added time!
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90+3 min Benteke makes a bit of space just inside the box and curls shot that is saved by McCarthy, diving to his left. It was a relatively comfortable save in the end.
90+1 min “Bang!” says Matt Dony. “Moreno is slowly filling the John Arne Riise void. I approve wholeheartedly of this development.”
90 min There will be four minutes of added time. The Fear is wafting all around Selhurst Park, with Liverpool in total control.
88 min Liverpool’s final substitution, with Kolo Toure replacing the goalscorer Firmino.
87 min Moreno hits the post! It was a brilliant effort, a fierce low shot from 25 yards that beat McCarthy and bounced up to clatter off the inside of the far post.
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86 min Moreno is booked for a stupid foul on Zaha.
84 min Liverpool are dominating the game now, despite being down to ten men. Palace look a bit tired.
81 min A double Palace substitution. Dwight Gayle and Bakary Sako are on for Adebayor and Ledley. Gayle was supposed to come on five minutes ago, but when he took his tracksuit top off he realised he didn’t have his shirt on. Tony Cascarino did that once in a vital World Cup qualifier, and was very nearly chinned by Jack Charlton as a result.
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80 min Another Liverpool substitution, with Benteke replacing the willing Origi. Lallana’s cross is headed behind for a corner on the right, to be taken by Firmino – and Benteke almost scores with his first touch. The corner was drilled to Lovren on the edge of the area, he headed it further across goal to Benteke, who sidefooted a volley straight at McCarthy fro 10 yards. That was a chance.
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77 min Like Spurs yesterday, Palace are finding that a one-goal, one-man advantage isn’t a guarantee of victory, not even at home. At the moment Liverpool probably look likelier to win it. But then so did England against Romania in 1998, Kevin.
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76 min A Palace corner is headed over by the stretching Dann.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-1 Liverpool (Firmino 72)
A disaster for the Palace keeper Alex McCarthy. He attempted to kick a backpass downfield, slipped over and screwed it straight to Firmino 20 yards out. McCarthy got to his feet but Firmino ran in to the area and passed it coolly into the net.
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70 min “I though Coquelin had the award for dumbest second yellow card of the weekend sewn up,” says Peter Mumola, “but Milner coming in from behind and seconds after a substitution might cinch it for me.”
Coquelin has to win, because of the state and importance of the game. Also, although you wouldn’t defend Milner, you can at least understand his instinctive frustration at being blocked by Adebayor. Coquelin’s was stupidity bingo
69 min A Palace substitution: Jordon Mutch replaces Yohan Cabaye.
68 min A lovely move from Liverpool. Firmino dances infield from the right and plays a good through pass to Lallana on the right of the box. He takes McCarthy out of the game with a cutback towards Origi on the six-yard line, and two Palace defenders just manage to force it behind for a corner. Or at least it should have been a corner; Andre Marriner gave a goalkick.
65 min Firmino’s awkward, bouncing shot from 25 yards is held well by McCarthy. It was straight at him but the bounce made it a bit tricky. That’s Liverpool’s first shot on target.
62 min: MILNER SENT OFF FOR LIVERPOOL
Oh dear. Milner was frustrated after running into Adebayor on the edge of the area, and when Palace broke he sprang to his feet and chased after the ball with a “WHY I OUGHTA!” speech bubble alongside him. Then he went through Zaha with an unnecessary sliding tackle that was always going to bring a second yellow card unless he got the ball. He didn’t. There was no danger on for Liverpool, with Zaha still 70 yards from their goal. It was just frustration.
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61 min An attacking substitution from Jurgen Klopp, with Coutinho replacing Flanagan.
60 min This situation is perfect for Palace, who were playing on the break even before they scored. Now they will expect to get even more counter-attacking opportunities.
59 min Coutinho is being readied.
56 min Liverpool, affronted by that goal, are attacking with a bit more urgency now. I’ve never understood why so many great and good teams seem to need to concede a goal before they wake up as an attacking force.
53 min As Alan Parry points out on Sky, Liverpool aren’t short of attacking options on the bench: Sturridge, Benteke and Coutinho.
50 min Now there’s a scramble at the other end, with Ward stretching to make a vital interception just as Lallana was about to shoot, and probably score, from six yards.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Liverpool (Ledley 48)
Palace take the lead! A set piece led to a bit of a scramble in the box, with two shots blocked by Liverpool defenders. The ball rebounded to the edge of the box to Ledley, who drilled an excellent first-time shot into the bottom corner with his left foot.
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47 min Sakho slides in to clear from Souare, who jumps to avoid the challenge and then accidentally lands on Sakho’s thigh with his studs. And then...
46 min Palace begin the second half, kicking from right to left.
Sterile domination department
0 - Liverpool had 63% possession in the 1st half vs Crystal Palace, but failed to direct a single shot on target (Palace had 3). Bluster.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 6, 2016
Half time: Crystal Palace 0-0 Liverpool
A decent 45 minutes of football, although it meandered a bit towards half-time. Palace will be happier, having created the main chances. See you in 10 minutes for the second half!
44 min Liverpool win a corner on the right. Milner hoofs it straight out of play.
43 min A couple of corners for Palace, who are finishing the half strongly. Nothing comes of the corners but,w ell, nobody’s perfect.
40 min Milner shows solidarity with Jordan Henderson by getting himself booked for ploughing clumsily through Cabaye.
39 min Palace have had three shots on target, Liverpool none. This information comes to you on an I’ve-bugger-all-else-to-tell-you-and-feel-guilty-about-posting-no-updates-for-the-last-few-minutes basis.
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37 min Dann’s 15-yard header from Cabaye’s free-kick is comfortably held by Mignolet.
36 min “These two managers enjoy the touchline histrionics and I can’t help contrasting them with the two most impressive managers this season, the er... cold-blooded Latins, Ranieri and Pochettino,” says Gary Naylor. “Can it be that Mourinho’s departure marks the end of ‘passion’ being number one attribute in the football manager’s person spec? If so, what would Robbie Savage have to talk about?”
Did you see Guardiola yesterday?
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34 min Bolasie’s dangerous cross from the right is brilliantly defended by Flanagan, without which Adebayor would probably have scored from six yards.
33 min Firmino is fouled just outside the box, to the right of centre. Milner’s free-kick is well struck, towards the near post, but hits the head of Bolasie in the wall en route for a corner.
31 min “At least Australia is being represented today by the only Aussie in the Premier League, Mile Jedinak,” says Ezra Finkelstein. “No red cards, Mile.” Fear not Kevin Muscat took care of the Australian Premier League red card quota until the year 2098.
30 min Origi, running at an angle away from goal, tries a first-time curler from 20 yards that dips not far over the bar. That was a bit like Oscar’s wondergoal against Juventus a few years ago.
29 min Cabaye clips the free-kick beyond the far post to Delaney, who gets under his header and balloons it over the bar. I think he saw it late.
28 min Zaha surges at Moreno, who brings him down just outside the area. Moreno did get a stud on the ball, though he may have gone through Zaha first, it’s hard to tell.
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25 min Cabaye shoots just wide. Zaha played a clever short pass between Moreno and Can for Cabaye, who let the ball come to him and struck a lovely first-time curler from 20 yards that didn’t quite come back enough to sneak inside the near post.
24 min A quiet period in the game. You’re welcome!
21 min In other news.
@MiguelDelaney pic.twitter.com/4v9bFaeAJu
— Michael Trusler (@Mike_Trusler) March 6, 2016
19 min Adebayor looks like a man who has just realised what his legs are for. He’s really up for this.
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18 min McCarthy comes for a corner but is beaten to it by his teammate Adebayor, whose attempted headed clearance hits his own goalkeeper and rebounds towards goal. There’s a bit of a scramble and the ball is cleared.
17 min This is a cracking game, with every attack carrying a fair bit of menace. Palace are sitting very deep and hitting on the break; Liverpool are playing some nice give-and-gos around the area.
15 min The lively Adebayor appeals for a penalty when his rabona cross hits Sakho. I think it hit him on the chest, but they were so close that I’m not sure it would have been a penalty even if it had hit his hand. Adebayor has been extremely good so far.
11 min Palace look sharp. Adebayor, just inside the box on the left, whips a counter-intuitive curler towards the near post that is beaten away by the diving Mignolet. Then Adebayor thumps a header against the bar! He should probably have scored, as he was only six yards out as he leapt above Sakho to meet Souare’s cross from the left.
This is eventful stuff, and now Dann has been booked for holding Origi back.
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10 min Henderson is booked for an inept sliding tackle on Bolasie near the halfway line.
7 min The first big chance falls to Palace. A long ball from the back was headed on by Bolasie to Adebayor, who ran down the left and then, from just inside the box, lifted a clever square pass to put Bolasie through on goal. It took a slight deflection off Sakho, and that gave Mignolet the chance to charge from his line and bravely block Bolasie’s shot. The two collided in the process but they both seem fine.
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6 min Zaha tries to run Moreno, who tackles him with not inconsiderable zest, after which both players end up on the floor. It was hard to see whether it was a foul or not, but the referee didn’t give it so it’s irrelevant. Moments later, Lallana’s loveley first-time flick put Firmino free on the right of the box, and his low cross was knocked away by McCarthy.
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5 min Liverpool win the first corner, which Milner takes short to Moreno. Nothing comes of it.
4 min Jedinak tugs back Lallana just past the halfway line, and is perhaps lucky not to be booked. The game hasn’t settled down yet.
3 min “Liverpool and Crystal Palace have the two best anthems - YNWA and Glad All Over,” says Hubert O’Hearn. “But leave us face it, they’re getting a bit old now. So what song from our times could suit as a team anthem that will make crowds sing (as opposed to cringe) twenty or thirty years from now?”
2 min There’s invariably a cracking atmosphere at Selhurst Park, where prawn sandwiches are not on sale, and today is no exception.
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1 min Liverpool, in white, kick off from right to left.
Another email!
“Here’s a pre-match email for you,” says Drew Gough, “assuming I hit send in the next 30 seconds. Go football!”
Just so long as football is the winner. That’s all I ask.
An email!
“While I wouldn’t wish relegation on anyone, I’m not broken up about the anagram of A Last Place Cry having a winless 2016,” writes Peter Oh. “They’ve been a thorn in Liverpool’s side in recent seasons and I’d love to see the Reds extend the Eagles’ unenviable streak today. As for the photo of Pardew dismissively waving his talons at Klopp, clearly the Liverpool manager has just asked the Palace gaffer does he know how many European Cups the Reds have won and Pardew is reluctantly supplying the answer.”
You can usually gauge how big a match is by the number of emails we receive before kick-off.
The email count today: 0.
Connor Wickham is out with a thigh injury, which is a blow to Palace given his recent form. But Yannick Bolasie, Liverpool’s nemesis, does start.
Yannick Bolasie scored in the 2-1 win at Anfield, Nov 8 & Palace have a 44% win ratio with him this season pic.twitter.com/AmDDaO5Ihp
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) March 6, 2016
The teams
Crystal Palace (4-3-3) McCarthy; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare; Jedinak, Cabaye, Ledley; Zaha, Adebayor, Bolasie.
Substitutes Speroni, Kelly, Lee, Mutch, Sako, Chamakh, Gayle.
Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mignolet, Flanagan, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno; Henderson, Can; Milner, Firmino, Lallana; Origi.
Substitutes Ward, Toure, Clyne, Allen, Coutinho, Sturridge, Benteke.
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Preamble
For two teams who have only met 46 times, Crystal Palace and Liverpool have a pretty rich history. The 9-0 and 4-3 in 1989-90 constitute one of the great football stories, while the 3-3 draw two seasons ago was unforgettably dramatic, even if its ultimate significance has been overplayed. There’s also a swaggering 6-1 win for Liverpool at Selhurst Park on the opening day of the 1994-95 season, two League Cup semi-finals, a big FA Cup shock in 2003 and Emile Heskey doing a Roy of the Rovers impression. Sort of.
Now Palace are aiming to complete consecutive league doubles over Liverpool for the first time. To achieve that, they will have to do something unusual: win a Premier League match. They are the only team in all four divisions who have not won a league game in 2016. After their superb start to the season - they were fifth on New Year’s Day - it’s been a strange freefall, even more so because they have kept winning in the FA Cup.
The inadequacy of those below them means Palace, currently on 33 points, shouldn’t go down - although, after 1992-93, when they were relegated despite being eight points clear of Oldham going into the last week of the season, they will take nothing for granted.
Liverpool could still make it into Europe – they are eight points behind West Ham with two games in hand – but the Europa League, and their first European meeting with Manchester United, is a slightly bigger priority. This match? It is what it is: 15th versus ninth, a game of football, on a Sunday.
Kick-off is at 1.30pm.
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