Liverpool Beat Crystal Palace 3-1 as Wirtz and Isak Score to Climb Into Fourth While Palace Drop to Bottom
Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park on Sunday, November 8, in a Premier League Round 10 game. Goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak took Andoni Iraola's side up to fourth place. Palace dropped to the bottom of the table, and the pressure on head coach Pierre Sage grew.
Liverpool arrived after back-to-back defeats, against Arsenal in the league and Fenerbahce in the Champions League. Iraola made changes and recalled Wirtz, Isak, Cody Gakpo, Ronald Araujo and Milos Kerkez. The visitors had an early warning when Mac Allister's low shot was saved by Dean Henderson in the first minute.
Palace, who had a goal ruled out in the first half, showed some promise. But Liverpool were more dangerous from set-pieces. In the 40th minute, Dominik Szoboszlai swung in a free-kick from the right. Mac Allister found space at the near post and headed the ball past Henderson. It was the kind of goal Palace have been conceding all season, and it frustrated Sage.
Nine minutes after the restart, Liverpool doubled their lead. Bradley Barcola raced away down the right and played the ball into the box. Wirtz arrived and swept it home with a calm first-time finish in the 54th minute. It was the German's first Premier League goal of the season.
Palace tried to hit back. Adam Wharton clipped a ball over the top for substitute Eddie Nketiah, but he leaned back and skied his shot. Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson was also busy and made a string of saves in both halves to keep the home side out.
Isak settled it in the 89th minute. Trey Nyoni intercepted the ball, and Wirtz slipped a pass to Isak on a quick counter-attack. His effort deflected past Henderson. It was Isak's eighth goal in all competitions for Liverpool this season.
In stoppage time, Palace won a penalty after Osorio and Kerkez clashed heads. Nketiah sent it into the top corner in the fifth minute of added time to make it 3-1.
Liverpool now sit fourth, while Palace are at the foot of the table going into the international break. Wirtz was the top performer, with a Sofascore rating of 8.3.