Mohamed Salah strikes again to complete Liverpool comeback against battling Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace 1 Liverpool 2: Luka Milivojevic drilled Palace ahead from the penalty spot but Sadio Mane pulled the visitors back into the game immediately after half-time and Salah finished the job

Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring the winning goal for Liverpool (Getty)

Jürgen Klopp finished this game punching the air and hugging Trent Alexander-Arnold, his teenage defender who had endured a torrid first half but ultimately came out on the winning side. Not for the first time this season, he and his team-mates will be thanking the striking instincts of Mohamed Salah, whose late finish completed an important comeback against Crystal Palace to send Liverpool 10 points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea, and on to Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Manchester City with a spring in their step.

Palace will reflect on another missed opportunity against a top side following close but equally fruitless encounters with Tottenham and Manchester United. They carried out their gameplan but were ultimately punished by Christian Benteke’s wasteful finishing and a far more ruthless striker at the other end. But with their toughest fixtures now behind them, Palace can take encouragement from a stirring performance as they approach the run-in.

It would be harsh to say Liverpool weren’t fully committed in the first half but it would also be naive to think their players had not yet considered the mouth-watering tie with City. It might just have been Palace’s endeavour, but Liverpool were a touch sluggish, their pressing a notch below its frantic norm, shrugging at lost causes they would usually chase.

Palace’s incisive counter-attacking initially topped the visitors’ cautious possession, and crucially their great strength was pitted against Liverpool’s obvious weakness; Wilfried Zaha only had sporadic moments of influence but they were terrifying for Liverpool’s right-back Alexander-Arnold. Just as Marcus Rashford exploited the space between full-back and centre-back at Old Trafford three weeks ago, Zaha made darting diagonal runs which the teenage defender failed to track, one of which earned Palace’s first-half penalty.

Alexander-Arnold should not be too harshly judged, and is in part a victim of what makes Klopp’s team so compelling to watch, the full-backs pinned so high up the field that most of their defensive work begins with a scramble back towards a fire already raging. Those seconds were costly here in the first half, and, with Joe Gomez injured and Nathaniel Clyne only just returning, Klopp has a decision to make over who should play at right-back against City and the rapid Leroy Sane.

Mohamed Salah leaps into the air after scoring the winning goal (Reuters)

Liverpool were given a warning after eight minutes, three minutes before conceding the penalty, when Yohan Cabaye collected the ball in the centre circle and picked out Zaha surging behind their defence. Loris Karius saved well with his chest, but a moment later he was culpable. Benteke flicked on a straightforward long ball and Zaha nipped in behind Alexander-Arnold, only to be wiped out by the onrushing Karius as he tried to stab the ball home. It was clear penalty, and Luka Milivojevic drilled the spot-kick into the corner.

Liverpool threatened to equalise soon afterwards, almost exclusively via Sadio Mane at corners. First the forward managed to redirect Virgil van Dijk’s effort wide of the post from a couple of yards, then he nodded one in from close range but was ruled offside, and moments before half-time he flashed a low header across goal which was well repelled by a diving Wayne Hennessey.

Mane was also at the heart of the half’s most controversial moment, when he was booked for diving in the penalty area a few yards from the irate Palace fans. There was some contact with James McArthur’s boot, but Mane only began his leap into the air once he’d stopped, felt something and a few cogs had turned.

Salah takes on Sakho (Reuters)

Liverpool got their equaliser less than five minutes after the break. Milner dummied a cross on his right foot, and when he did eventually fire along the six-yard box with his left, he found Mane waiting in front of Mamadou Sakho to turn the ball in and bring the scores level.

Ten minutes later Benteke endured a woeful minute, missing two brilliant chances to restore Palace’s lead. Both were teed up by Andros Townsend, one sliced horrifically wide, the other pushed over the bar as he fell. The Belgian has a fine goalscoring record against Liverpool but this episode was far more reminiscent of his form wearing their colours.

Mane might have been shown a second yellow card shortly after the hour mark when he was deemed to have handled the ball on the floor, but referee Neil Swarbrick ignored baying calls for further punishment. The Senegalese was replaced soon after by Adam Lallana, but he lasted only a few minutes, limping away in a worrying sight for both club and country.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, fellow substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain bustled down the right wing and swung in a deep cross, where Andrew Robertson had the composure to coolly square to Salah who took a touch in the box… and everyone in Selhurst Park knew exactly what was coming next. Liverpool have a tight grip on the top four and a Champions League tie to relish.

Crystal Palace (4-5-1): Hennessey, Wan Bissaka (Fosu-Mensah), Kelly, Sakho, Van Aanholt, McArthur, Milivojevic, Cabaye (Loftus-Cheek), Townsend, Benteke, Zaha.

Subs: Lee, Cavalieri, Souare, Delaney, Riedewald.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum (Lallana (Lovren)), Salah, Firmino, Mane (Oxlade-Chamberlain).

Subs: Clyne, Moreno, Mignolet, Ings.

Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire).