Virgil van Dijk’s presence in a hole once filled by Mamadou Sakho helps Liverpool to win a match by defending

Two of Liverpool’s three attacking generators were misfiring but for once they showed how to win a Premier League match from the back to prove how far this side has developed

A night where Liverpool’s goals neatly illustrated where they have been and the direction in which they now appear to be heading.

You will remember Mamadou Sakho and his presence at the centre of conversations like these, of course: was he at fault or did he just appear to be because of his unique manner on a football pitch, one that makes him resemble a cross between a stallion and an Imperial Walker attempting to steer an ice cube across a marble staircase?

Mohamed Salah was not performing near even half his best but even that measure is enough to worry defenders, particularly defenders like Sakho whose lean muscularity and cloddishness when the ball is around his feet makes it more understandable if the referee spots a foul that is not really there. Ultimately, this one was just about because of the contact made by the lower part of Sakho’s shin. Down Salah went, up stepped James Milner and from the penalty spot, it became 1-0.

Like Salah, Roberto Firmino did not fire. This was an example of what it is like when two of the generators are down in Liverpool’s electric forward line. They were instead able to win at Selhurst Park because of their defensive organisation and concentration – something that was rarely pointed out when Sakho was there and has rarely been pointed out, in fairness, in the two seasons since his departure.

That Alisson Becker had just one save to make in a game where he kept a clean sheet proves how misleading statistics in isolation can be because his bearing on Liverpool’s confidence was enormous but maybe not quite as enormous as Virgil van Dijk’s, who made eight headed clearances from Liverpool’s penalty area in total, the most decisive of which led to Sadio Mané scoring his team’s second in the third minute of injury time.

Alongside van Dijk, Joe Gomez’s pace and reading of the game nullified Wilfried Zaha’s threat but you do wonder whether Ragnar Klavan would have been sold and whether Gomez would be getting his chance right now if Van Dijk was not around, someone whose authority compares to that of an older brother showing up in a playground and stopping all of the bullying just by his size and smouldering looks.

Virgil van Dijk has proved why he was worth the £75m that Liverpool spent on him (AFP/Getty)

If Liverpool need to improve on their defensive record in away games to have a chance of appearing closer to the summit of the Premier League table next May then this outcome should offer reassurance that progress has been made.

In the determination to remember what happened at Selhurst Park in 2014 when Liverpool let slip a three-goal lead and with that any real chance of ending a 24-year wait for the title, it seemed like it had been forgotten that they had won there in each of the last three seasons and yet, this too did not simply mean they would probably win again. All of the four goals in each of those victories were avoidable, leading to questions about what might happen on the occasions when the more creative players are not there to rescue them.

Context around Palace’s position under Roy Hodgson also needs introducing because Liverpool’s victory on this ground in March 2016 came when Alan Pardew’s side had not won in more than two months, their victory in October 2016 came after two Palace defeats against West Ham and Leicester, while their victory last season came after just one Palace win in eight previous fixtures. This encounter was trickier because it was the first home game of the campaign for Palace in front of a capacity attendance that believes in the methods of its manager following a convincing opening day win at Fulham. In the last twelve months, indeed, Hodgson has turned Palace into a much more imposing and convincing side.

Mamadou Sakho conceded a clumsy penalty on Mohamed Salah (Reuters)

One former Liverpool player with experience of losing at Selhurst had commented privately how the stadium’s tight surroundings makes it one of the more difficult places to go. In the tunnel, the sense of uneasiness is real, he said, because of the clinical lighting, the minimal space between the walls and the need to duck as you pass through one door and move closer to the lights of the pitch. “If someone has bad breath, you know about it,” he admitted.

Mental and physical capabilities have not been associated with Liverpool for many years but perhaps this will change. Sakho’s reactions had contributed entirely towards the opportunity that arrived for their opening goal but it was Milner who slid the penalty away – someone who 180 seconds earlier was uncharacteristically writhing on the floor following scissor-motion tackle by Patrick van Aahnholt. Just before that, Milner had done something similar to Zaha and a sense of retribution was in the air. Amidst the hurly-burly of it all, Milner re-established his composure to strike calmly when it mattered most. This too was a theme in Liverpool’s night.