Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool: Casting Out the Selhurst Demons (An Exorcise in Patience)

Yesterday’s FA Cup clash saw Liverpool return to a ground that has been a real problem for them in recent times. As well as being the site of a 3-1 defeat earlier in the season, it was also the venue for our capitulation that totally ended our chances of the title last season. As such, it was all the more sweet to get the win that saw us advance into the quarter finals – the team showed excellent character, as Rodgers would say, to come from behind and seal a 2-1 victory.

Despite the narrow margin of victory, Liverpool looked in charge for almost the entire game. After putting on a lot of earlier pressure but failing to convert any of the multiple chances, they went behind to Palace’s first real chance of the game. Dwight Gayle was quick to pounce on the short header of Skrtel; though he was denied by an excellent stop from in-form keeper Simon Mignolet, Frazier Campbell was on hand to slot home on the rebound. From this point onwards Palace created almost nothing. They sat deep and invited pressure, an invitation that Liverpool took up eagerly. The rest of the half was a series of half-chances, with the most clear cut opportunity falling to Adam Lallana. After a nice passage of intricate passing play, he found himself in the box with space to shoot. He hit it well enough, but Speroni was on hand to deny the visitors an equaliser.

The start of the second half marked the start of something that a lot of fans have been craving ever since we got a taste of it at Spurs towards the start of the season: the Sturridge-Balotelli partnership. It certainly didn’t disappoint; within 15 minutes of kick-off, Sturridge had bagged the equaliser and Balotelli had assisted what turned out to be the winning goal. The Italian, as predicted, looked a different player with a strike partner – his movement, so often criticised, was good. He also looked very dangerous with the ball at his feet; his close control and trickery enabled him to win the free kick that Liverpool’s second goal came from. Hopefully Rodgers will give this partnership a chance to flourish – both strikers are undoubtedly very talented, and if Sturridge can draw the best out of Balotelli then we will have a deadly duo on our hands.

The strikers weren’t the only positive of the half. Another highlight was the level of control the team had. With about twenty minutes to go they eased off the gas going forward a little, but rather than sitting much too deep and allowing the opposition to pile on pressure as usual, they played a very effective possession game. Despite being the home team, it was Palace who were being forced to do all the chasing of the ball, and most of the time they were just chasing shadows. For this, Joe Allen must take some credit. While he may not be living up to the “Welsh Xavi” tag that Rodgers somewhat unwisely placed upon him, his composure on the ball and excellent technical passing definitely played a part in allowing Liverpool to control the game. He also showed another element to his game, one very rarely seen: at 1-0 down his ferocious half volley was inches away from finding the corner.

So where does this result leave us in terms of our cup chances? In short, this is our best chance in years of winning the thing. Chelsea and Manchester City have both already been knocked out, meaning the only other “big” teams left in the tournament are Arsenal and United, who both play today. We are now in the quarter finals – the draw takes place on Monday evening, and if Liverpool can keep up the sort of form they’re in currently then they can be confident of a result whoever they get drawn against.

-James Martin

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