Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool: Player Ratings
Liverpool continued to gather momentum for their late surge on a top four finish in a fairly topsy turvy season after snatching victory from the jaws of defeat at Selhurst Park. Joe Ledley scored for The Eagles before a 10-man Liverpool capitalized on errors from the Crystal Palace defense to turn the game around. Liverpool are still 6 points behind 4th placed Manchester City having played 28 games each.
We take a look at the individual player ratings from the game played at Selhurst Park:
Crystal Palace:
Alex McCarthy – 4/10
Alex McCarthy had little to do in the first half with Liverpool managing no shot on target but capitulated majestically in the second half after gifting the ball to Roberto Firmino in front of goal as he slipped while trying to clear a routine back pass. Firmino, of course, scored. He made a few saves but was hoodwinked by a feinting Benteke for the penalty shot.
Papa Souare – 6/10
Souare returning from a 3 match ban did not do himself much of a favor when he attacked from deep but was good defensively for a while. He had an average second half.
Damien Delaney – 6/10
Damien Delaney was stretched a few times by the odd Liverpool attack but over the course of the game did not seem troubled all that much by the Liverpool forward line. He had a solid first half and was fine all the way till the end of the second. That was before he made an avoidable lunge at Benteke deemed enough for a penalty.
Scott Dann – 7/10
Scott Dann had an imperious first half as he and Delaney kept Liverpool from getting a shot on target. He was not troubled at all before Milner’s sending off in the second half after which he needed to be at his best to keep trouble at bay. He could only look on as Liverpool snatched the win from under his nose. He was also booked for his troubles.
Joel Ward – 5/10
Joel Ward was constantly run over by Alberto Moreno on the left and could hardly keep pace with the Liverpool attacks from the left. He was bailed out a number of times by his center backs.
Mile Jedinak – 6/10
Tirelessly working in front of the Palace backline, Mile Jedinak had a solid first half. In the second half, after Milner’s sending off he had trouble tracking Coutinho and was outrun a few times by Liverpool players.
Yohan Cabaye – 7/10
Cabaye was the one orchestrating all of Crystal Palace’s attacks from deep with some fine passing and astute positional play. He went close from a run and a beautifully taken curved shot on the half volley before hitting the side netting. Palace lost their way completely after he was substituted off for Jordan Mutch.
Joe Ledley – 7/10
Preferred to Jordan Mutch, Joe Ledley did exactly what was expected of him. He provided Palace with late runs into the box when in possession (one of which got him the goal) and was always tucking in to provide bodies in the middle to cut off Liverpool’s supply in midfield. He was substituted for Dwight Gayle as Palace chased the win in the later stages of the game.
Yannick Bolasie – 6/10
Bolasie made a few noteworthy runs and had an aura of threat around him but barely managed to trouble Liverpool beyond the ordinary.
Wilfried Zaha – 5/10
Zaha hardly impacted the game. He had plenty of opportunities to take advantage of space left behind by Alberto Moreno but didn’t ever do so with any impact.
Emmanuel Adebayor – 6/10
Adebayor made a few clever runs off the defenders’ shoulders but did not have enough about him except for a shot that hit the post. He did decent while holding up the ball and kept the defenders on him busy.
Substitutes
Jordan Mutch – 4/10
Mutch was largely anonymous since coming on as Liverpool were in the ascendancy since the sending off.
Dwight Gayle – 4/10
He hardly saw the ball enough to do anything of note
Bakary Sako – 4/10
He hardly saw enough of the ball either.