Liverpool came from behind to beat 10-man Crystal Palace 2-1 in the English Premier League on Saturday, with Mohamed Salah scoring his 200th goal for the club and Harvey Elliott scoring a stoppage-time winner.
Salah joined Ian Rush, Roger Hunt, Gordon Hodgson, and Billy Liddell as the club’s fifth player to accomplish that milestone.
Liverpool has 37 points after a game in which Eagles forward Jordan Ayew was sent off for a second yellow card for an inconsequential violation in the 75th minute.
Throughout the game, referee Andrew Madley was in the thick of things, issuing eight yellow cards to the home team and denying them a penalty in the first half after being called to the sideline in a VAR review.
After another lengthy video review determined that Jean-Philippe Mateta had been fouled by Liverpool centre-back Jarell Quansah, Palace seized the lead in the 57th minute, and Mateta stroked the ball home from the spot.
Liverpool hadn’t registered a single shot on target and were struggling to create chances until Ayew was booked twice and sent off in the 75th minute for not withdrawing from a free kick.
Salah scored his 150th Premier League goal just over a minute later, canceling out Mateta’s penalty with Liverpool’s first shot on target.
Liverpool kept pushing forward, and it paid off when substitute Elliott scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, much to the pleasure of the traveling fans.
Candid Klopp
“I told the boys that’s the first game I’ve seen somebody play as bad as we did for 76 minutes and still win,” Klopp was quoted as saying by TNT Sports. “We have a lot to get through this time of year, and we need results.” Nobody gets nominated for the Oscar for best football game ever; it’s only about three points. We got them, and we’re overjoyed.”
Liverpool’s lone league defeat this season remains the disputed stoppage-time loss at Tottenham, despite this late performance at the end of a mostly frustrating contest in which they struggled to create clear-cut chances. They appear to be legitimate title challengers.
Klopp’s team has shown the capacity to transform defeats into victory.
They have a league-leading 14 goals in the final 15 minutes of games this season, and their 18 points from losing positions are also unrivaled.
Salah has 200 goals and 86 assists in 327 appearances for the club since arriving from Roma for £34 million in June 2017, and he will surely be crucial to their ability to continue a title chase.
“I see the determination to fight until the bitter end.” “We’ll keep doing that,” Salah said of the parallels between the current team and Liverpool’s 2019-20 champions.
“We now have a new team because there are six or seven new players.” We need to counsel them. They’re doing well and learning a lot. This season, we have the opportunity to do something special.”