Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, Aug. 19. Here are all the highlights from the match.
Liverpool weren’t at their fluid best against Crystal Palace on Saturday, but ran out 1-0 winners thanks to Sadio Mane’s close-range strike in the 73rd minute.
The Reds started well enough, but struggled to break down an Eagles side that conceded three goals at home to newly-promoted Huddersfield in their first game of the season last week. Frank de Boer’s side took a slightly more defensive approach at Anfield, and looked to target Christian Benteke more directly on the break.
The best chance of the first half fell to Joel Matip, who failed to hit the target from Andrew Robertson’s cross. The Scotsman, making his debut after arriving from Hull in the summer, played a big role in Liverpool’s attack, and was often their primary outlet on the left side. He nearly set up Mane later in the half, but the Senegalese winger couldn’t connect under pressure at the back post.
Roberto Firmino had Liverpool’s only other notable chance of the half, but Wayne Hennessey did well to punch away his long range effort. Palace nearly took the lead immediately after that chance, when Ruben Loftus-Cheek played in Jason Puncheon on the break, but Simon Mignolet saved the shot comfortably.
The second half was more of the same, until Jurgen Klopp brought on Mohamed Salah and then Dominic Solanke to inject some more pace into his side’s attack. Solanke’s first touch turned into the assist for Mane’s winner. The goal wasn’t the prettiest Liverpool will score this season, but gave them a deserved win based on their dominance over the 90 minutes.
Next: Premier League 2017-18 season preview
Highlights
Liverpool move onto four points with the win and into fourth place, at least until Huddersfield and Tottenham play on Sunday. Palace, meanwhile, remain without a point from two matches.