By Freddie Jennings at Selhurst Park
PIERRE sage is reportedly set to be sacked after Crystal Palace’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Selhurst Park – their fourth straight Premier League loss.
Two goals either side of half-time from Alexis Mac Allister and Florian Wirtz meant Palace couldn’t recover as Alexander Isak put the seal on the victory. Eddie Nketiah’s late penalty was little consolation for the Eagles.
Palace slipped to bottom of the table for the first time since 2017 after Nottingham Forest and Sunderland both secured surprising wins over Manchester City and Chelsea respectively this weekend. After ten games the situation looks desperate for Palace, despite showing signs of life here.
For 40 minutes Palace looked the more dangerous and should have taken the lead. In the seventeenth minute, Yeremy Pino hit the bar following an intricate move. Oscar Mingueza’s recent good form was rewarded with a start and he impressed at right wing-back position, finding Tyrick Mitchell who squared for the Spaniard before his strike cannoned off the woodwork.
Daichi Kamada was next to go close after Mitchell found him, before his volley forced Alisson into an excellent reflex save.
Palace were building in momentum and striker Jorgen Strand Larsen thought he had given Sage’s side the lead with a cheeky dink from close range that beat Alisson, but the offside flag denied the Norwegian.
Ultimately, Palace were unable to capitalise on this period of control and were duly punished. They were given a warning when Dominik Szoboszlai hooked a delivery towards the back post where Bradley Barcola was completely free, but he could only spoon the ball over the bar.
It was a warning that Palace didn’t learn from, however, as the home side conceded a set-piece near the corner flag. Szoboszlai’s cross found Mac Allister at the near post and he flicked a header past Dean Henderson. It was the seventh time Palace had conceded from a header this season, the most in the Premier League this season.
Another vulnerability under Sage has been the team’s inability to prevent costly counter-attacks, and Liverpool’s second in the 54th minute was a direct consequence of this. Ronald Araujo sent Barcola down the right and his ball was weighted perfectly for Wirtz to sweep home. In a flash, a performance that promised so much was wiped away.
Liverpool started to control the ball and Palace’s chances became very limited. Substitute Nketiah did cause problems for the Liverpool defence. His hounding of the opposition allowed Dario Osorio to square for Pino, but his effort was smothered by Alisson. That was about all the goalmouth action Palace could muster as Liverpool looked a lot more comfortable than when they were harassed in the first half.
Wirtz turned provider with a minute of normal time to play when he found Isak in the box to beat Henderson from a few yards.
Nketiah scored in the fifth minute of stoppage-time after Milos Kerkez had fouled Osorio when attempting to clear with his head. The damage had been done and Palace have claimed just seven points from a possible 30.
Palace will wonder how they didn’t score until the 95th minute but this is an all-too familiar story: wasted chances before conceding goals from a set-piece and a counter-attack. The Palace fans were understandably muted for spells in this match but still applauded the team off after the final whistle as Sage made his way down the tunnel.
“We started well and created chances to score first but we missed it,” Sage said. “Conceding a set-piece before half-time was difficult before coming into the break. But with their speed after they killed us with transitions.”
Sage batted away questions about his future.
“My Job is not the important thing, the important thing is finding an efficient change for this team,” Sage said.
“The situation is more or less the same in a lot of games but football is not about how much you deserve it, it is about how efficient you are and we have not been efficient enough. When we opened up against them from a low block their speed was too difficult for us.
“The performance was better today but if we were in a comfortable position we could build from this but that is not the case as we need results.”
The need for points now outweighs the need for good performances as Sage appears to be on the brink of an early exit after only being appointed in June. The November international break has arrived and with it a big decision for chairman Steve Parish as he will be forced to either stick or twist. Palace have two huge fixtures away to Coventry City and then against Hull City at Selhurst Park – but who will be in charge for those matches is difficult to predict.
