Eddie Nketiah smashed home a stoppage time winner to hand Crystal Palace a famous victory at Selhurst Park and bring Liverpool’s perfect start to the Premier League season crashing down.
The England forward was in the right place at the far post deep into the seventh minute of added time to punish sloppy defending and send the home crowd wild. It capped a thunderous night where Palace outplayed the champions and finally got the reward their dominance deserved.
Ismaila Sarr set the tone with an early breakthrough after just nine minutes. Liverpool failed to clear a corner and the winger bundled the ball in to give Palace a dream start. From then on it was one way traffic in the first half as Jean Philippe Mateta struck the woodwork and Alisson Becker pulled off a string of brilliant saves to keep Liverpool alive. The Brazilian denied Yeremy Pino and Daniel Munoz as Palace swarmed all over a shaky Liverpool defence.
Arne Slot’s men offered little going forward before the interval but finally showed signs of life after the restart. Record signing Alexander Isak, making his full league debut, wasted a glorious chance when he dragged wide with only Dean Henderson to beat. The Palace keeper then turned Ryan Gravenberch’s thumping drive on to the post and somehow kept out Florian Wirtz from close range.
When substitute Federico Chiesa levelled in the 87th minute Liverpool looked to have escaped again. The Italian lashed in from inside the box after a scramble and a VAR check confirmed Gravenberch was just onside in the build up. It appeared to be the latest example of Liverpool’s knack for late drama under Slot.
But Palace refused to be denied. They kept coming and in the dying seconds Munoz’s cross caused panic in the Liverpool area. Gravenberch failed to cut it out and Nketiah pounced like a predator to slam the ball beyond Alisson and spark pandemonium.
The win lifted Palace up to second place and stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to an astonishing 18 matches. Liverpool meanwhile were left to reflect on a night where their flaws at the back were brutally exposed.
Selhurst Park rocked to its foundations as the home players celebrated with the fans. Palace had created chance after chance and finally landed the knockout punch that ended Liverpool’s perfect run. For Nketiah it was the sweetest of moments. For Liverpool it was a bitter reminder that champions cannot afford off nights in this league.