SAN FRANCISCO, December 19, (THEWILL) – English Premier League champions, Liverpool , needed to end a five-game winless run away from home when they took on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. They did that in emphatic fashion trouncing their hosts 7-0 as Robert Firmino and Mohamed Salah ended the day with a brace each.
The men from Anfield had drawn four and lost one of their league games on the road since their 2-0 win at Chelsea in September. They set an early marker to change that when forward Takumi Minamino found the net after just 125 seconds.
In what was an early assertion of their control of the outcome, Minamino took being teed up by Mane to a productive end as he lashed in his first Premier League goal into goalkeeper Vicente Guaita’s bottom-right corner from 10 yards out.
After going behind so early, Palace took it to the visitors putting pressure on their defence and goal post. Yet, it was the Reds who scored again to double their advantage against the run of play. 10 minutes before the interval, striker Sadio Mane netted a fine strike from 15 yards as a benefit of Roberto Firmino’s pass.
To cap a wonderful 45 minutes, Firmino tactfully controlled a cross from right back Andy Robertson and superbly flicked the ball past a helpless Guaita with the outside of his foot in the 44th minute as Liverpool went into the break three goals to the good.
It did not get better for Palace after the interval. Seven minutes into the second half, Trent Alexander-Arnold set up right midfielder Jordan Henderson, who grabbed his first goal of the 2020/2021 season when he expertly whipped a long-ranger into the far corner from 22 yards.
A second for Firmino came via an incisive 68th minute pass from Salah which allowed the Brazilian striker dink the ball over Guaita. Then, the Egypt international added his name to the scoreline for Liverpool’s sixth with a close-range header in the 81st minute.
There was still time for Salah to add gloss to the one-sided scoring. Accepting a pass from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, he stepped right to position himself for a curled ball into Guatia’s top-right corner from outside the penalty area.
Seven goals from a total of eight shots on target put the visitors’ utter ruthlessness on display. It was also their biggest ever away win in the top flight to date and Palace were at bay, conceding so many goals in a home match for the first time.
The dominant display stretched Liverpool’s lead at the top of the log to six points. Tottenham will have an opportunity to cut that back to three if they beat Leicester City on Sunday.
For their next fixtures, the Reds host struggling West Brom next Sunday, while Palace travel to Aston Villa a day earlier.
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