For the first half hour on Sunday, Liverpool were hanging on. Crystal Palace hit the bar and had a goal ruled out, and Alisson had to be at his best. Then, from one of those wide free-kicks, Alexis Mac Allister arrived at the near post to make it 1–0 – a goal head coach Andoni Iraola called “massive”.
After the break it was all speed. Florian Wirtz finished off a lovely move set up by Bradley Barcola to double the lead, and Alexander Isak added a late third. A stoppage-time penalty for Palace cost a clean sheet – and left Iraola “very upset” – but the 3–1 win lifts Liverpool to fourth.
They got back from a midweek trip to Turkey late on Thursday night, so this was a shift and a half. Now, as Iraola put it, everyone is praying the internationals come back in one piece.
