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Liverpool posted a record-breaking away win in the top flight on Saturday lunchtime when they beat Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace 0-7 at Selhurst Park.
Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah each scored two goals, Jordan Henderson scored a cracker from the edge of the box, Takumi Minamino scored his first in the Premier League and Sadio Mane ended a nine-game drought in a resounding fashion.
It was largely the perfect day for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who suffered no injuries and secured their place at the top of the Premier League for the third day of Christmas in a row.
The Reds face West Brom next, that game comes the day after Boxing Day, which means they have the luxury of an eight-day break between games.
This is how the national media reacted when Liverpool smashed Crystal Palace in seventh at 13th.
‘As defining of era as everything we’ve seen’ – Miguel Delaney, The Independent
As much as a championship performance, it was different individual displays of Liverpool’s exacting quality and a goal-of-the-month competition, all in one match.
This 7-0 win over Crystal Palace was as special and as defining a victory as any we’ve seen in Jurgen Klopp’s half-decade at the helm.
And that in a season in which they have moved a bit away from their highest level. It was so good, so sinister to everyone else. It was also a record, like his biggest away win in the league.
They raised it when necessary to outperform the entire league, and a generally lower quality season. That may be the case for this title race as a whole.
In that, this has the potential to be a watershed week, and you can feel how transformative the win over Tottenham Hotspur could have been. He could see its importance in the reaction and response at Selhurst Park.
There is also something instructive, given the Spurs’ performance at this stadium just six days ago.
‘Liverpool set to repeat title feat in 2021’ – Oliver Holt, Daily Mail
As a year that has defied many of our family certainties and eroded many of our traditions begins to come to an end, English football was at least able to find a sanctuary in reestablishing the old order on Saturday.
There have also been elements of chaos in this Premier League season, but Liverpool banished them at Selhurst Park with a magnificent win from Crystal Palace that reminded us of a life before Covid-19.
The shape of their 7-0 win and their timing made this more than just hammering.
Their biggest away win in the top flight was an emphatic statement that normalcy is being restored and that after a few opening points, including a 7-2 loss to Aston Villa and an extensive injury crisis, the team that swept with everyone before the last season is ready to repeat the feat this season.
‘Reds are back in the rhythm 2019/20’ – Barney Ronay, The Guardian
So the rest of the Premier League is up to you. On a wet day in South London, Liverpool produced a performance of the quality of a ruthless champion, pushing Crystal Palace aside and causing a thrilling rerun of the overwhelming rhythms of last season.
A 7-0 victory (vidiprinter: seven) left them six points clear at the top of the table, albeit briefly.
This was a day when Liverpool simply rose to their full height against the game, but outplayed their opponents. The score was surprising. The quality of the goals was something else.
At the top of the table at Christmas, goal difference readjusted favorably, Liverpool again run this race from the front.
‘Minamino the catalyst for the floodgates to open’ – Josef Rindl, BBC Sport
The team that had been beaten by seven at Villa Park in October returned to their best, creating attack after attack against a woeful Palacio team to win away from home in the league for the first time since September.
Two days after being named FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year, Jurgen Klopp gave Minamino an unusual start, leaving Salah in the Premier League’s nine-man first bench.
And the Japanese international soon opened the floodgates, scoring his first Premier League goal exactly 12 months after it was announced that he would be moving to Anfield.
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Mane and Firmino hit home in a devastating first period, and the Senegal international seemed to be in the mood to score more, looking furious after being replaced by Salah after 57 minutes.
Henderson completed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cut before Brazilian international Firmino scored Liverpool’s fifth. And Salah then got in between goals at the end, with an opportunistic header and a late curling effort.
There was also a cameo for substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who made his first appearance since injuring his knee against Newcastle last July.
It marked a perfect afternoon for the champions, who are now six points clear at the top of the table, with Tottenham hosting Leicester on Sunday.
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