Crystal Palace were once again unlucky not to pick up at least a point, as they succumbed to a narrow defeat against Liverpool earlier this evening.
It was a spirited performance from the Eagles, who troubled the Reds on the break but couldn’t muster enough defensive solidity in the end.
Here are the Crystal Palace player ratings.
Julian Speroni (6/10): Made a couple of routine saves as well as charging off from his line to deny Mohamed Salah in the first half. But, his howler in the second half gifted Liverpool the lead.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (8/10): Restricted Keita from making any inroads into the final third in yet another impressive defensive showing from the youngster.
James Tomkins (8/10): A solid defensive performance from Tomkins, who made a series of excellent challenges and was, ultimately unlucky to conceded four goals.
Mamadou Sakho (7.5/10): Played well on his return to Anfield, making a series of tackles and blocks to prevent Liverpool from scoring more goals.
Patrick van Aanholt (7.5/10): Full-backs weren’t really the problem for Palace in the game as Van Aanholt also did quite well to contain Sadio Mane, especially in the first half.
Andros Townsend (7.5/10): Scored another important goal to hand his the lead around the half-hour mark and looked menacing at times.
James McArthur (7/10): Although not as influential or as industrious as his midfielder partners, it was a decent showing by McArthur, who provided additional defensive cover in midfield.
Luka Milivojevic (7.5/10): Recovered a lot of second balls and made a lot of important challenges to keep his side in the contest. He is the Mr.Reliable for Palace.
Cheikhou Kouyate (7/10): Disrupted Liverpool’s flow in midfield during the first phase of the game but failed to maintain that rhythm and was unlucky to have Firmino’s shot deflected off him for Liverpool’s second of the evening.
Wilfried Zaha (8.5/10): Looked menacing and caused a myriad of trouble from the flanks with his mazy runs into Liverpool’s defensive channels. Registered his first assist in seven games when he provided the perfect ball for Townsend to score the opener.
Jordan Ayew (6.5/10): Did a lot of running but was unable to hold the ball for too long, thanks to two imposing Liverpool centre-backs.
Substitutes
Jeffrey Schlupp (NA): He was given a glorious chance to equalize late in the second half but he mistimed his header.
Connor Wickham (NA): Replaced the tiring Ayew in the 81st minute but should have come on much earlier.
Max Meyer (NA): Reduced the deficit in the dying embers of the game with a decent strike.
