Having been behind until the 75th minute in an extremely deadlocked attack, Liverpool suddenly stood up strongly to complete an impressive comeback against host Crystal Palace on the evening of December 9.

The reward for the brave victory of coach Jurgen Klopp’s students is that Liverpool officially took over the top spot from Arsenal without worrying about possibly having to return this number 1 position after a few hours. 

There is no meaningless victory, no unimportant overthrow in the context of Liverpool needing more motivation for the race to the (unofficial) Winter championship…

Liverpool’s attack failed to make any shots in the first 45 minutes of the match.

It was not the host Crystal Palace but the away team Liverpool who attacked more in the first half. It’s just a shame that Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Watari Endo, and David Luis all couldn’t hit a single shot. 

Meanwhile, despite actively playing defensively at home, after about 20 minutes of struggling, Crystal Palace began to organize sharp counterattacks.

Liverpool were awarded a penalty in this phase and it was canceled later

The first dangerous opportunity was created by the home team in the 27th minute when Odsone Edouard, in a face-to-face position, kicked goalkeeper Alisson Becker’s hand. The ball bounced off the crossbar and hit the ground outside Liverpool’s goal line. 

It didn’t stop there, just 2 minutes later, the referee awarded Crystal Palace a penalty after midfielder Van Dijk fouled Edouard in the away team’s penalty area. 

However, after reviewing the situation via VAR, the referee immediately changed his decision because Will Hughes fouled Watari Endo earlier.

Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the penalty, opening the score for Palace

After the break, Liverpool still could not improve their play and had to pay the price. In the 57th minute, Mateta was fouled and fell in the Liverpool penalty area and the referee, after consulting VAR, decided to give Crystal Palace a penalty kick. 

Mateta himself scored a free kick from 11 meters away to open the score for the home team.

Jordan Ayew received two yellow cards within 15 minutes, making Palace pay the price

With nothing left to lose, coach Jurgen Klopp replaced a series of personnel, including two young faces Curtis Jones and Harvey Eliott. If Elliott caused Jordan Ayew to foul, receive a second yellow card and leave the field in the 75th minute, Curtis Jones was the one who created the opportunity for Mohamed Salah to score a 1-1 equalizer for Liverpool just a few dozen seconds later. 

This is the Egyptian striker’s 200th goal for Liverpool in all competitions.

Mohamed Salah scored his 200th goal for Liverpool

The drama didn’t stop there. Right at the 90+1 minute of injury time, Elliott ran the ball straight into the middle and fired a dangerous shot to seal a 2-1 victory for Liverpool. 

In three of the last 5 matches, Liverpool won after being behind, worthy of the title “king of comebacks”. 

Most importantly, with this victory, “The Kop” surpassed Arsenal to win the top spot in the table with 1 point more than the “Gunners”…

Harvey Elliott scored the winning goal 2-1, bringing Liverpool to the top of the table