[ad_1]
AIn addition to the beauty of his goals, there was an inevitable brutality to this Liverpool performance. Jurgen Klopp’s team were utterly ruthless in everything they did, cutting through the Crystal Palace defense with minimal fuss and merciless on an afternoon when their forwards were simply untouchable.
As the seventh came in, dug into the top corner from Mohamed Salah’s left boot, Palace manager Roy Hodgson spun on his heel and grinned exhausted on his bench. Sometimes there really is nothing else to do but laugh. It was that kind of occasion in South London, a Premier League clash reduced to a one-sided, relentless, and free attacking football display.
On the same ground where Tottenham Hotspur shook and panicked last week, Liverpool were as powerful and precise as they have been at any point this season. There cannot have been many occasions in Klopp’s entire reign where he has played with such composure in front of goal, with such quality in the final third. Fourteen games in the season, they are threatening to run again.
“Boys are capable [of this] but it doesn’t happen every week, ”said Klopp, who clearly enjoyed the score a bit after they sent seven goals at Villa Park earlier in the campaign. “Fun season,” he said. “Today it clicked. This is a very intense period and the boys should be very proud of it ”.
Liverpool didn’t even need Mohamed Salah on the field, although he emerged as a substitute in the second half to further tear the body of the Palace defense, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes to turn this from a humiliation into a beating. . Who can realistically hope to match Liverpool on days like these? Who can realistically expect to prevent them from regaining their title?
Most of the destruction had already taken place when Salah was introduced, led by Roberto Firmino with a performance of typical invention and style. The Brazilian scored two of his own and had the skillful support of the superb Sadio Mane and Takumi Minamino, who both scored in the first half. Jordan Henderson huddled in the fourth before Salah’s performance shattered any fight left in Palace players.
Oddly enough, Liverpool were not dominant at all times. In the first half, especially, there were times when Palace created genuine fear among the visiting rear. But rarely have the champions, or even any team in this division, been so devastating in their definition: their seven goals came from eight shots on goal. “Everyone wore their spike boots today,” Klopp said of his players.
As for Hodgson, there really wasn’t much he could say. Palace had been excellent here against Tottenham, another title contender, but this time he had no response for Liverpool’s supreme shot.
“I can’t think of anything positive to say,” Hodgson said. “We are humiliated by the result. We take it very, very badly. It’s the first 7-0 loss I’ve suffered and that goes for a lot of people in the locker room. We have to go through a little period of mourning.
“Every player has to accept it. They have to go home and accept that this has happened to us. I am devastated by the fact that it has happened. “
The home team’s plan to contain Liverpool was unraveled after just three minutes, as the visitors gave an early indication of the kind of mood they were in. The move started on the right, where Trent Alexander-Arnold hit a glorious delivery in the area. Before he had even reached his goal, Henderson could be heard shouting his approval.
“What up,” roared the Liverpool captain, as Mane turned onto Minamino’s path. The Japanese international needed to create just half a meter of space before launching his shot, low and strong, into the corner for his first Premier League goal.
[ad_2]
