Liverpool left it extremely late on Sunday to beat Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace but a last minute penalty decision allowed the Reds to score a winner via Christian Benteke and walk away with an important three points.
It was an interesting game in which Klopp's side appeared to dominate the first half yet conceded almost immediately in the second. The goal from Ledley caught the Reds off guard and gave Palace a huge boost after struggling underneath mounts of Liverpool pressure in the first half. Jurgen Klopp could only watch on as things went from bad to worse when James Milner left the field after picking up a second yellow card at 62 minutes for a silly challenge and was given his marching orders.
At 72 minutes Roberto Firmino brought cheer to the travelling Kop when he made the most of an error by goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. Firmino had actually been pretty quiet up until the goal but his presence in the starting line up had been justified. The real shock for Liverpool though of course came at 96 minutes. Christian Benteke who had only entered play 15 minutes earlier was deemed to have been taken down in the box after referee Andre Marriner consulted with his linesman. While the contact was perhaps minimal it was definitely present as Delaney's knee clashed with Benteke's foot, there was no real need to make a challenge as the Belgian was going nowhere so while I can understand some of the frustration from Palace fans I still feel it was a spot kick.
As Benteke stepped up I felt extremely nervous, it just felt like bad luck had surrounded him for so long that he was destined to miss. I wanted nothing more than for him to find the back of the net because he deserves that confidence boost in my opinion. I never really wanted him at the club in the first place because I don't think he fits our system but he deserves some praise and hasn't been given enough game time in my opinion. Even if we are going to get rid of him, a goal would do no harm. I may have had doubts but Benteke clearly did not, he cooly slotted his penalty to the right of goal completely flummoxing the keeper.
And with that, the Reds had somehow managed to win the game. The three points could prove vital as Liverpool aim to put pressure on those above them, it's a tough ask for Klopp's side to do any damage to their main rivals for the top four but you just never know. In all honesty a draw was probably the correct result for this game so it's no surprise that Alan Pardew threw his coat at the dugout in sheer anger at his side who have now failed to win in 12 in the league but sometimes in football, luck swings your way and I certainly won't be dwelling on Palace's misfortune.
Next up for Liverpool? It's only Manchester United in the Europa League!
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| Image via theguardian.com: Christian Benteke celebrates scoring the winning penalty. |
At 72 minutes Roberto Firmino brought cheer to the travelling Kop when he made the most of an error by goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. Firmino had actually been pretty quiet up until the goal but his presence in the starting line up had been justified. The real shock for Liverpool though of course came at 96 minutes. Christian Benteke who had only entered play 15 minutes earlier was deemed to have been taken down in the box after referee Andre Marriner consulted with his linesman. While the contact was perhaps minimal it was definitely present as Delaney's knee clashed with Benteke's foot, there was no real need to make a challenge as the Belgian was going nowhere so while I can understand some of the frustration from Palace fans I still feel it was a spot kick.
As Benteke stepped up I felt extremely nervous, it just felt like bad luck had surrounded him for so long that he was destined to miss. I wanted nothing more than for him to find the back of the net because he deserves that confidence boost in my opinion. I never really wanted him at the club in the first place because I don't think he fits our system but he deserves some praise and hasn't been given enough game time in my opinion. Even if we are going to get rid of him, a goal would do no harm. I may have had doubts but Benteke clearly did not, he cooly slotted his penalty to the right of goal completely flummoxing the keeper.
And with that, the Reds had somehow managed to win the game. The three points could prove vital as Liverpool aim to put pressure on those above them, it's a tough ask for Klopp's side to do any damage to their main rivals for the top four but you just never know. In all honesty a draw was probably the correct result for this game so it's no surprise that Alan Pardew threw his coat at the dugout in sheer anger at his side who have now failed to win in 12 in the league but sometimes in football, luck swings your way and I certainly won't be dwelling on Palace's misfortune.
Next up for Liverpool? It's only Manchester United in the Europa League!