Background
Liverpool taking on Crystal Palace was supposed to be one of the days where they could be crowned champions of England. However, due to Sunday’s draw with Everton, it will now become a step to that goal. Outside of all this, there is a hidden rivalry between these teams that goes back decades. In this article, we will look back at some of these games.
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Liverpool 9 Crystal Palace 0 – 12 September 1989
A game where one of the greatest Liverpool teams with attackers like Barnes, Beardsley, Rush and Aldridge, took apart the newly promoted Crystal Palace team. Highlights of the match include that there were eight different goal scorers and six goals in the second half. The Palace team had a strike partnership of Ian Wright and Mark Bright, with their inspirational young captain Geoff Thomas in midfield. The night was memorable, however, later in the season, this Palace team would go on to strike a cruel blow to Liverpool to stop them completing their second league and cup double in three years. This season would also prove to be their last domestic title until thirty years later. The question arises, had Liverpool won this game maybe two nil, would they have lost the future semi final?
Crystal Palace 4 Liverpool 3 – 8th April 1990
Seven months after that 9-0, Palace faced Liverpool in the semi finals of the FA cup at Villa Park. The winners would face Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the final. Liverpool of course were the hot favourites and for most of the game, it looked like they would win this game. Liverpool scored first and then Palace scored two. Liverpool equalised and then took the lead. Two minutes away from the final, Palace equalised and then nicked it with a goal in extra time. The goals by Palace exploited Liverpool’s weakness from set pieces. Liverpool were out and Palace progressed to the final where they took United to a replay eventually losing out. Ian Wright emerged as the new talent to look out for, eventually moving to Arsenal and becoming their record goal scorer.
Let’s take one alternative view on all this. Had Liverpool held on that day, got to the final and beaten Manchester United, would Alex Ferguson have kept his job, would they have won all those titles to overtake Liverpool haul and would Liverpool still be waiting today to win that first title in thirty years?
Crystal Palace 3 Liverpool 3 – 5th May 2014
Crystanbul, the game where Liverpool finally lost that title, that moment Suarez gave Liverpool a 3-0 lead, grabbed the ball and ran back to the half way line, believing that maybe they could get the increase in goal difference needed. The match came after that Gerrard slip match and credit to Liverpool, they played brilliant football and with goals by Joe Allen, Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez, were 3-0 up fifty five minutes into the game. Unlucky not to score more, Palace got their first goal in the seventy ninth minute where Jason Puncheon and Dwight Gayle took over and nine minutes later, it was level. Had the game continued longer, Palace would probably have won it. There were tears from Suarez who was consoled by Gerrard and the dream was over.
This is remembered as the match where Liverpool lost the title, however, in reality, due to the superior goal difference of Manchester City, the title had gone the game before. However, the scenes after will bring a tear to many a Liverpool heart as the moment the dream was finally shattered.
Liverpool 1 Crystal Palace 2 – 8th November 2015
This was the first defeat as Liverpool manager for Klopp with goals by Bolasie and Dann giving Palace the points. However, it was not on the pitch why this match was significant but in the stands. On eighty two minutes when Scott Dann scored that second goal, with the score at two one to Palace, Liverpool fans started leaving their seats. This was not something Klopp was used to from his Dortmund days and certainly not something he expected from the legendary Liverpool fans. Klopp’s reaction would challenge the mindset of all Liverpool fans, he said:
“The goal came after eighty two minutes. Twelve minutes to go (eight plus stoppage time), and I saw many people leaving the stadium. I turn around and saw them go…I felt pretty alone at this moment! We decide when it’s over”.
Fast forward to the 7th May 2019, Liverpool were three nil down to Barcelona from the first leg of the champions league semi final. However, by the seventy ninth minute, three short of that eighty second minute, Liverpool were four nil up. Barcelona including Messi were in shock and the supporters who had walked out three and a half years earlier, had help Liverpool win the game that would eventually lead to them becoming Champions of Europe that year. Would any of this have happened if Klopp had not nipped the walking out habit in the bud in this match at Palace? One small step led to one giant leap for Liverpool.
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