After Darwin Nunez was given a straight red card at Anfield on Monday night, Liverpool rallied from a goal down to tie the game at one with Crystal Palace.
Jurgen Klopp’s team entered the game after a disappointing 2-2 draw against Fulham to open the Premier League campaign. Despite dominating the first half, Klopp’s team fell behind when Palace’s quick-hitting counterattack resulted in Wilfried Zaha beating Alisson with a beautiful finish.
As halftime drew near, the visitors held off a late barrage of Liverpool chances (who had taken 17 shots in the first 45 minutes) and took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. As the hosts sought a second-half equaliser, Nunez was shown a straight red card for hitting Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen which worsened Liverpool’s issues during the game.
Despite being down a man, The Reds equalised minutes later thanks to a brilliant individual effort from Luis Diaz, who picked up the ball on the left flank, and beat multiple Palace defenders as he tiptoed across the top of the penalty area, and unleashed an unstoppable shot past Palace keeper.
The points are shared at Anfield 🤝#LIVCRY pic.twitter.com/kth29YHuwi
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 15, 2022
In the 78th minute, Zaha had a glorious opportunity to put Palace back in front, but his shot at the back post from Cheick Oumar Doucoure’s cross through the area went wide of Alisson’s net, and the teams were forced to settle for a draw. “Obviously, we want to win our games, especially at home,” Liverpool midfielder James Milner said following the game.
“I thought we started out pretty well, but then we got a little off track in the middle. They obviously have quality; they’ll always cause you problems on the break, which we could have defended better.”
The result puts Liverpool in 12th place with two points from their first two games, four points behind leaders Manchester City, and Palace in 16th place with a single point. Liverpool also had their nine-game winning streak in PL openers snapped, and they were unable to win either of their first two matches in the top division for the first time since 2012-13.
Having an additional man for the final 30 minutes, Palace manager Patrick Vieira was thrilled to leave Anfield with a point.
“Overall, we maintain our organisation and discipline — this is a really difficult place to come and try to perform,” Vieira said. “It was a really good team performance, and I’m really pleased with the team’s performance today.”
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