Jurgen Klopp gets exactly what he needed after "disrespectful" Liverpool row
Jurgen Klopp will never like anyone calling the 12.30pm TV slot on Saturday his “favourite kick-off time”.
But maybe the refereeing gods reckoned Liverpool were owed a result on their return to London yesterday for the first time since their September defeat at Tottenham.
Then nine-man Liverpool were beaten by Spurs and blundering VAR officials when a Luis Diaz goal was wrongly disallowed - and the Reds issued a club statement stating “sporting integrity has been undermined”.
This time Crystal Palace had a penalty over-ruled on a VAR review before the 75th-minute dismissal of Jordan Ayew changed the game. Within a minute, Mo Salah had scored his 200th Liverpool goal and Harvey Elliott beat sub goalkeeper Remi Matthews too easily with the injury-time winner.
Liverpool were dominant in the closing stages but it had been a long time coming. “Who’s the Scouser in the black,” the Palace fans were singing before a chorus of boos on the final whistle.
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Liverpool avoided a second Premier League defeat of the season in the capital and Palace fans applauded off Roy Hodgson - who had criticised his own supporters in midweek - and his players despite the loss. But for most of this slow-burning match, a home win had seemed the most likely result.
Klopp had snapped at Amazon Prime presenter Marcus Buckland in midweek after he jovially suggested this was his “favourite kick-off time”.
Join the debate! What did you make of Liverpool's performance vs Palace? Let us know here.
Jurgen Klopp's side are top of the table after coming from behind to beat Crystal Palace (Adrian Dennis/AFP)Klopp branding the questioning “ignorant” and “disrespectful” but his on-air irritation set the tone for initial on-field timidity in miserable South London. For the first 75 minutes, the Reds’ display was as grey as the skies above Selhurst Park. It was not quite Crystan-bul - the infamous 3-3 draw here in 2018 - but neither was it the 0-7 destruction of Hodgson’s side in South London in December 2020.
The Saturday lunchtime start time is great for the Premier League marketing as the revolving advertising boards for Asian betting companies around Selhurst Park show. But what is good for punters in Hong Kong, Hanoi and Tokyo was less enriching for early entertainment in the pitch.
The first big decision eventually went their way after Madley took four minutes and 24 replays to decide Will Hughes had fouled Wataru Endo before Virgil Van Dijk upended Odsonne Edouard. The Dutchman’s yellow card was also overturned.
VAR also intervened when the referee missed a foul by Jarell Quansah on Jean-Philippe Mateta before the Frenchman equalised from the spot.
Ayew’s second yellow card could have gone either way - but the momentum in the match then changed. Liverpool enjoyed more fortune with Salah’s deflected equaliser - his 150th Premier League goal for Chelsea and Liverpool - but the Egyptian is good enough to make his own luck. And Liverpool maintained their challenge in the title race which has two big advent dates this month.
After a final Europa League group game in midweek, the Anfield club’s next two Premier League matches are home blockbusters with Manchester United on Sunday (Dec 17) and then Arsenal on December 23. Win both of those matches and Klopp’s side can be talked about as title favourites.
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