Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace: Mane and Salah help send Reds top

Mane
makes
poor
Palace
pay
yet
again
to
reach
Liverpool
century
at
Anfield

A
shaky
start
eventually
gave
way
to
the
anticipated
Liverpool
control,
which
did
not
yield
a
goal
until
Mane’s
close-range
strike
shortly
before
half-time,
his
100th
goal
for
the
club
in
all
competitions.

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Results
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The
Reds
had
to
see
out
some
dangerous
forays
forward
from
a
Palace
side
that
demonstrated
plenty
of
attacking
ambition.

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Yet
moments
beyond
the
opening
minutes
where
Alisson
was
truly
tested
were
rare,
Salah
making
the
game
safe
as
Liverpool
moved
three
points
clear
of
City,
who
drew
at
home
with
Southampton,
as
well
as
Manchester
United
and
Chelsea.
Naby
Keita
added
late
gloss
to
the
scoreline
with
a
superb
volley.

Palace
went
agonisingly
close
twice
in
the
first
three
minutes,
Alisson
scrambling
to
turn
a
goal-bound
Wilfried
Zaha
effort
onto
the
post
after
he
had
latched
onto
Conor
Gallagher’s
lofted
ball
into
the
box,
before
Christian
Benteke
then
headed
against
the
left
upright,
although
replays
showed
the
striker
to
be
in
an
offside
position.

Vicente
Guaita
was
forced
into
a
fine
save
at
the
far
post
from
Liverpool’s
midweek
Champions
League
hero
Jordan
Henderson,
but
the
Reds
initially
struggled
to
make
their
dominance
of
possession
count
following
Palace’s
bright
start.

Diogo
Jota
should
have
put
Liverpool
in
front
when
the
ball
rebounded
to
him
at
point-blank
range
after
Guaita
repelled
Thiago
Alcantara’s
header,
however,
he
blazed
a
seemingly
simple
chance
high
over
the
bar.

Mane
made
no
such
mistake
two
minutes
before
half-time
as
he
was
alert
to
tuck
home
the
rebound
and
break
the
deadlock
following
Guaita’s
diving
stop
from
Salah’s
near-post
header.

The
busy
Guaita
produced
a
double
save
to
deny
Keita
and
Salah
while
at
the
other
end
Odsonne
Edouard
was
let
down
by
his
first
touch
with
a
gilt-edged
chance
to
restore
parity.

And
the
Eagles’ failure
to
find
a
leveller
was
punished
12
minutes
from
time
when
Salah
settled
matters
by
lashing
home
after
Virgil
van
Dijk
had
flicked
on
Konstantinos
Tsimikas’
corner,
with
Palace’s
inability
to
defend
another
set-piece
situation
allowing
Keita
to
add
the
finishing
touch
in
some
style.