Liverpool squeeze past Palace but Allison limps off at Selhurst Park
Liverpool's Diogo Jota scores their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League match at Selhurst Park. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.
Arne Slot's impressive acclimatisation to life at Liverpool gathered pace as the Premier League leaders withstood a late Crystal Palace rally to seal victory at Selhurst Park.
The win, secured by Diogo Jota's early goal, came at a cost with goalkeeper Alisson set for a lengthy spell out after aggravating a hamstring injury making a routine clearance with 10 minutes left.
With regualr deputee Caoimhin Kelleher absent due to illness, the Brazilian was replaced by Vitezslav Jaros as the Czech Republic international belatedly made his debut after more than six years at Anfield. Jaros spent the 2021 League of Ireland campaign on loan at St Patrick's Athletic.
Despite a late improvement which could have seen them earn a point Palace - who believed they should have been awarded a second half penalty when Marc Guehi appeared to have been held by Virgil van Dijk - paid for a lethargic first hour when they laid out the welcome mat and meekly allowed Slot's slickers to walk all over them as Liverpool stretched their advantage at the top with a ninth win from 10 in all competitions.
The main concern for the Dutchman is that the margin of victory should have been far more handsome. Often they were guilty of over-elaborating in front of goal and somewhere along the line, they will pay for being so wasteful against less supine opponents.
Palace started brightly and had the ball in the Liverpool net after just 22 seconds but Eddie Nketiah was narrowly offside when he swept home Ismaila Sarr's low cross.
Until Sarr's angled drive forced a decent save from Allison in first-half stoppage-time, that was about as good as it got for the winless hosts, who look a shadow of the swash-buckling side that finished last season with six victories from seven games.
Liverpool quickly sensed blood against such confidence-bereft opponents and within 10 minutes had taken a lead they rarely looked like surrendering to maintain their record of winning every game this season where they have gone in front.
Kostas Tsimikas split the Palace backline with a perfect slide-rule pass into the area for Cody Gakpo to send over an inviting first-time cross for Jota to beat Dean Henderson with a low finish after stealing in front of statuesque debutant Trevoh Chalobah, who, astonishingly, was part of a seventh different back three for the hosts already this term.
Jota should have doubled his tally before the break with a mirror image of his goal, this time from a Ryan Gravenberch cross, but scuffed his effort badly wide.
Henderson saved from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk headed over from one of a dizzying number of Liverpool corners in a first half of virtually one-way traffic that somehow ended with only a single goal separating the sides.
For all their deficiencies, Palace remained in the contest and both Nketiah and Ebe Eze both came close to a second-half leveller when forcing Alisson to save with shots from the edge of the area when Liverpool switched off defensively.
Guehi had penalty claims turned down when the England defender appeared to be held in the area by van Dijk, and when Eze sent another decent chance straight at Jaros, Liverpool's victory was sealed as the new head coach emerged just a little more from the imposing shadow cast by his celebrated predecessor Jurgen Klopp.
Henderson 7; Chalobah 4 (Kamada 88, 4), Guehi 6, Lacroix 5; Munoz 5 (Clyne 17, 5), Wharton 5 (Hughes 60, 6), Lerma 7, Mitchell 3 (Mateta 60, 7); Sarr 7, Eze 6; Nketiah 6. Booked: Lerma, Hughes, Sarr, Nketiah.
Alison 7 (Jaros 80, 7); Alexander-Arnold 7, Konate 7, van Dijk 7, Tsimikas 7 (Robertson 80, 6); Jones 6 (Endo 89, 6), Gravenberch 7, MacAllister 6 (Szoboszlai 46, 6); Salah 6 (Diaz 72, 6), Gakpo 6, Jota 6. Booked: Gakpo, MacAllister.
Simon Hooper
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