Arsenal and Man City handed huge title race boost as Crystal Palace beat Liverpool

Liverpool were dealt a hammer blow by Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon. A 0-1 defeat saw the Reds lose ground on Manchester City and Arsenal.

The Eagles had their reward on 14 minutes after some tidy build-up play. Tyrick Mitchell cut the ball back to the onrushing Eberechi Eze who made no mistake to silence the Kop.

Oliver Glasner’s outfit were inches from a second soon after. Eze, involved again, played an innocuous pass forward that, for some reason, caught Virgil Van Dijk off-guard. The Dutchman slipped allowing Jean-Phillipe Mateta a chance on goal. The striker lofted the ball over Alisson but was denied by the backtracking Andrew Robertson. 

Liverpool were dealt a blow in the second half; Conor Bradley was withdrawn due to an injury before being replaced by Trent Alexander-Arnold. 

Anfield felt edgy with their title hopes slipping away as the clock ticked on. On the hour mark the Kop rose, and Nunez smashed a volley towards goal that looked destined to nestle into the net but was expertly denied by Dean Henderson. The save, no doubt, brought a smile to Manchester United fans.

Again, Liverpool pressured Palace; on 72 minutes Diogo Jota looked set to equalise but the shot was blocked by ex-Liverpool man Nathaniel Clyne. 

Jamie Carragher said: “It feels like one of those days were the ball just won’t go in for Liverpool”

The statement was further reinforced when Curtis Jones had just the keeper to beat but skewed a shot wide of the target. Alisson was also on hand with a world-class save to deny Palace a second that would have sealed the result; he spread to deny Mateta's powerful volley just yards from goal.

As the match approached its finale, Anfield was visibly tense; nails were bitten, heads were in hands. Liverpool needed their hero and quick.

Liverpool sit third in the Premier League; two points behind leaders Manchester City. Arsenal host Aston Villa later today and can go top with a victory over the Villains.

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