Was of no use” – Arne Slot has criticized a Liverpool player for being responsible for Crystal Palace’s winning goal.
Eddie Nketiah scored a last-minute winner in the 97th minute, leading to Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat against Crystal Palace.
Arne Slot stated that Liverpool could have prevented the late goal during their loss at Crystal Palace, indicating that one player was at fault.
The Reds experienced their first defeat of the Premier League season at Selhurst Park. Crystal Palace secured a 2-1 victory, with Eddie Nketiah netting the decisive goal in the 97th minute.
Liverpool appeared lackluster for a significant portion of the match, particularly in the first half, where Ismaila Sarr’s ninth-minute goal was a fair reflection of the Eagles’ performance.
The visitors showed improvement after halftime and believed they could salvage a point with Federico Chiesa scoring three minutes before the end of regular time.
However, Liverpool could not maintain their lead for a draw. They failed to manage a long throw-in, leaving Nketiah unmarked at the back post
When asked if Liverpool aimed to win after Chiesa’s equalizer, head coach Slot responded during the post-match press conference: “We had numerous attacking players on the field at that time, but not much occurred during extra time.
Additionally, the extra time when we conceded was justified because they made a substitution, and you add half a minute. I’m not sure exactly when they scored, but I believe it was between 96 and 96 [minutes] and 30 seconds.
“We can only hold ourselves accountable. One of our players chose to run forward for a counter-attack, which was pointless since time was up, so it was solely about defending.
Perhaps we were too focused on offense – not we, but one player was overly offensive at that moment, which resulted in them scoring the winning goal and us losing the match.”
Both goals that Liverpool allowed against Palace originated from set-pieces. Additionally, they conceded two goals from dead-ball situations during the 3-2 victory over Newcastle United last month.
Nevertheless, Slot expressed that he was not worried about this pattern but acknowledged that the Eagles deserved their victory, especially since Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker had to make several saves in the first half.
Slot remarked: “In the match against Newcastle, we allowed two set-pieces, which were the only two opportunities they had in that game.
Today, they scored more than just two set-piece goals. While they didn’t score additional goals, they did create chances from open play and transitions. There were several aspects to critique today beyond just our set-piece defense.
“The positive takeaway was that in other situations, Alisson was there to save us. Palace poses several threats; set-pieces are one, but counter-attacks and balls played behind the defense rank as numbers two and three, and from these scenarios, they generated numerous chances. We managed to create quite a few opportunities against a Palace side that rarely concedes.
In the first half, they fully earned their lead, while our performance improved significantly in the second half. If any team deserved to win, it was Palace.