Let’s take a look at the Premier League Player Ratings from the showdown between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at the Selhurst Park.
Liverpool pulverized Crystal Palace 7-0 at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon to extend their lead in the Premier League standings.
Jurgen Klopp made a bold decision in dropping Mohamed Salah to the bench for the trip to London, but it proved to be a worthwhile gamble as the Reds were outstanding in the final third without their top-scorer.
Takumi Minamino took just three minutes to break the deadlock by burying a low right-footed strike into the bottom-left corner. Sadio Mane, who assisted Minamino’s opener, then made a superb run into the box to double Liverpool’s advantage in the 35th-minute.
Magnificent 7️⃣
What a football team these Reds are! pic.twitter.com/89JnF13R4w
— Liverpool FC News (@LivEchoLFC) December 19, 2020
Roberto Firmino later tapped in the first of his two goals at Palace just before the break to ensure a comfortable advantage.
It was a similar story in the second-half as Palace simply had no answer for Liverpool whatsoever. The hosts were outplayed, had little possession, and made just five shots on goal during the match itself.
Their inability to turn things around opened the door for another Reds goal-feast. Jordan Henderson bagged a fourth goal just seven minutes after the break before some excellent work from Salah, who replaced Mane as a substitute, allowed Firmino to score his second.
For the first time in the Premier League, Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah all scored and assisted in the same game:
⚽️🅰️ Mané
⚽️⚽️🅰️ Firmino
⚽️⚽️🅰️ SalahAnd none of them played the full 90 minutes. 🤪 pic.twitter.com/VMN6CKmYP7
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 19, 2020
But Salah wasn’t done there, as the Egyptian star bagged a brace inside the remaining nine minutes to take his tally up to 13 goals in as many league games this season.
Liverpool will now remain top of the Premier League table regardless of how their rivals fare. For Palace, though, they could drop to 14th-place by the end of this weekend.
Player ratings
Crystal Palace: Guaita (3); Clyne (4), Kouyate (5), Cahill (5), Van Aanholt (6); Schlupp (6), Milivojevic (6), McArthur (6), Eze (6); Zaha (5), Ayew (6).
Bench: Batshuayi (5), Tomkins (5), Riedewald (6).
Liverpool: Alisson (8); Alexander-Arnold, Matip (8), Fabinho (9), Robertson (9); Keita (8), Henderson (9). Wijnaldum (7); Mane (9), Firmino (9), Takumi (8).
Bench: Salah (9), Oxlade-Chamberlain (6), Jones (6).
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