Crystal Palace 3 Liverpool 1
If Liverpool had arrived in this corner of south London haunted by last season's capitulation here then they will feel properly traumatised now. A season which had spluttered too often already sunk to a new low in the November drizzle. Brendan Rodgers skulked down the touchline at the end wearing the haggard look of the defeated. He will be glad to see the back of the place.
What made this all the more wasteful was that his team had actually led from their opening attack against a Crystal Palace side who had begun the afternoon in the bottom two and winless in five. With Mario Balotelli back on Merseyside nursing a groin complaint, Rickie Lambert had registered his first Liverpool goal in the opening two minutes and the visitors should have prospered against fragile opponents thereafter. Instead they imploded, utterly unable to cope with Palace's slippery pace across a sodden surface.
The homeside's decisive rewards were registered late, but they deserved credit for recovering their poise from that early concession, their bustling approach exposing Liverpool's rather ponderous play. There was pace and unpredictability down both flanks, Jason Puncheon offering reminders of last season's form and Yannick Bolasie, all elastic limbs and blistering pace, gloriously energetic on the counter. He had only returned on Thursday after scoring a brace for DR Congo against Sierra Leone to secure his country a place at the Africa Cup of Nations, and it was his shot after gleaning space from a disorientated Dejan Lovren which fizzed on to the far post. Dwight Gayle, on a first league start since mid-September, reacted smartest to convert the rebound through Simon Mignolet's desperate attempt to block.
Other first half opportunities were passed up, Bolasie blazing wide having been cleverly supplied by Puncheon and seeing another rapid breakaway culminate with a shot deflected behind for a corner as Liverpool heaved to recover some authority. It was the former Bristol City winger who forced Mignolet into a fine save down to his left after Javier Manquillo's desperate and blind defensive header. There was uncertainty across the visitors' back-line, even if they could justifiably complain that their numbers had been depleted – with Joe Allen being bandaged for a head wound – when Gayle had actually registered that fourth goal in three appearances against these opponents.
That indecision never truly disappeared, the goalkeeper rarely sure and dreadfully wasteful in dispatching a free-kick into touch 12 minutes from time. From the throw-in Bolasie tricked a flat-footed Lovren and squared for Joe Ledley, an undersung but key component of this Palace side, to dispatch his shot through the Belgian and in. There were appeals for a penalty as Joel Ward and Raheem Sterling wrestled almost immediately at the other end, but Liverpool were panicked and undermined. When Skrtel tugged back Gayle, there was Mile Jedinak to curl a glorious third from the resultant free-kick into the corner from 25 yards.
It was hard amid the home support's joyous celebrations to contemplate just how this contest had veered so decisively away from Rodgers's side. Retreat back to the start and Lambert's reward had been almost instant, the forward edging away from Martin Kelly to collect Adam Lallana's fine diagonal pass with his left foot before dispatching his shot with his right. Julian Speroni was grounded and his team had been breached within 90 seconds. It was a flashback to Southampton days, where that combination of Lambert and Lallana had been so potent. A 13th appearance for Liverpool had finally yielded the England striker's first goal. Had he better directed a couple of first-half headers then perhaps his new club might have reimposed themselves but, as the game drifted, so did the visitors' composure. Their defeat ended up feeling resounding.
Guardian Service
