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Liverpool earned a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League at Anfield.
Oliver Glasner insisted that he would have instructed Crystal Palace to let Liverpool score had Freddie Woodman’s injury been serious.
The Reds earned a 3-1 win over the Eagles at Anfield , although it was not as straightforward as the scoreline suggested. While Alexander Isak and Andy Robertson gave Liverpool a two-goal deficit at half-time, Palace had created chances only for Woodman - the Reds’ third-choice goalkeeper deputising for injured duo Alisson Becker and Giorgi Mamardashvili - making two fine saves.
Woodman again had to be called into action in the second period when he repelled Ismaila Sarr’s shot. However, he suffered an injury when doing so, falling to the ground in pain. And with the ball falling to Palace full-back Daniel Munoz, he opted to shoot into an unguarded net.
The fact that the goal was allowed to stand was highly controversial, with Liverpool head coach Arne Slot fuming as well as the home supporters. That set up a nervy finish to the game before Florian Wirtz’s 97th-minute strike wrapped up the win for the Reds and moved them into fourth in the Premier League table.
On the controversy around Munoz’s goal, Palace head coach Glasner said: “We discussed with the fourth official, with Arne Slot and van Dijk (what to do). We had watched it back. If Ismaila Sarr hits his head then the referee has to stop the game immediately. But it hits his leg, the ball goes to Daniel Munoz and the keeper raises his arm. Daniel didn’t really see it or it is at the same time. The referee has to stop the game if he believes it is a serious injury but you see the keeper ends the game.
“To demand the referee has to stop the game can be very dangerous for the future. If a goalkeeper saves the ball with his arm and then stops then it would end the second phase. That wouldn’t be the best for football. It was not so clear but I think it was the right decision in the end.
“We were discussing, to be honest, but for me it was clear. The keeper gets up. If he doesn’t and he has to be subbed then they could have definitely scored in our goal because then it would have been a serious injury. But with Daniel it was parallel – the keeper raises his arm at the same time he is about to shoot.
“It is easier to see everything from the stands. We had watched it back. Van Dijk thought he had raised his arm before Daniel Munoz took the finish but I explained to him that it was more or less at the same time.”
Palace returned to South London feeling that they were worthy of a share of the spoils only for their lack of ruthlessness in the final third. The Eagles created an xG of 2.64 compared to Liverpool’s 0.95. On the game, Glasner said: “We are very disappointed about the result but very pleased with the performance, our best performance at Anfield, even when we lost the game. We created so many chances, but the difference was the efficiency. Liverpool took their half chances and we missed our big chances. It was a huge effort and I showed them the stats, 14-9 finishes and an xG of 2.3 to 0.9. That is just amazing and shows how competitive we have been and that should give confidence for the final part of the season,
“It felt the same in the first half. Their first goal, we clear the ball and they get the second shot, the player doesn’t hit the ball well and it falls to Isak. The second a big chance, JP’s (Jean-Philippe Mateta) header and an amazing save from [Freddie] Woodman, and the next situation, Robertson hits the post. It showed the finishing quality Liverpool had. Not just how many chances we created but how [few] we gave to Liverpool. I liked how brave we were in and out of possession. We won the ball very high, pressing them high and were very confident. The finishing wasn’t good enough.”
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