Liverpool 4-3 Crystal Palace - 5 Talking Points, Premier League 2018-19
Crazy, crazy Liverpool eh? For Reds fans around the world, they probably wouldn't have missed this version of Jurgen Klopp's side, but in the end, the Premier League leaders got the job done with a 4-3 win over Crystal Palace at Anfield.
The Reds went behind in the first half, through an Andros Townsend goal, but stormed into a 2-1 lead in the first seven minutes of the second half, thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
James Tomkins got the visitors level with a header, but Salah's second after a Julian Speroni howler was followed by Sadio Mane seemingly put the game out of Palace's reach.
Max Meyer scored one right at the death, but Palace just didn't have enough time to haul themselves back against Liverpool's ten men, after James Milner was sent off for two bookable fouls on Wilfried Zaha.
Here are the biggest points for discussion from the game.
#5 Roy Hodgson's game-plan was spot on
It was what Palace were expected to do - keep men behind the ball, defended in a compact shape, and then spring out using the power of Zaha and Andros Townsend on the counter-attack.
Mamadou Sakho stood tall, despite his idiosyncrasies in the first half, they kept Liverpool's front three quiet, and even got themselves in the lead. They played their way through Liverpool's press beMilnerautifully. The Reds hunted as a pack to try and get the ball off James McArthur, but the Palace man somehow found his way out of it to find Patrick van Aanholt, who then moved it on for Zaha.
Zaha skinned Milner, and pulled it back for Townsend who drilled it past Alisson. They also got themselves an equaliser, after going 2-1 down, when James Tomkins headed home a Luka Milivojevic corner.
It was a similar kind of performance to the one that Palace put in against Manchester City, and they also had the little bit of luck they needed in the offensive areas. The only difference was the larger number of defensive gaffes, which ultimately cost them the game.