LIVERPOOL’S winning start came crashing down at Crystal Palace thanks to a 97th-minute winner from Eddie Nketiah.
The pre-match spotlight was on the Reds’ exciting front three of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah, all of whom were upstaged and overshadowed by Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr and his ninth-minute tap-in.
The reigning champions had seemingly produced another late, late show comeback with sub Federico Chiesa’s 87-minute leveller only for Palace to return the favour with Nketiah smashing a volley into the bottom corner with the final kick of the game.
Slot will be deeply concerned with his defence, one that looked its leakiest yet after a wobbly start to a season that has seen several late winners paper over the growing cracks.
The irony will not be lost on Slot that the defender he tried and failed to get this summer after a deadline day collapse – Marc Guehi – was faultless yet again for Palace.
And it is no exaggeration that without keeper Alisson, Palace’s wastefulness and a pinch of luck, Liverpool could have been FIVE or SIX down at half-time in south east London.
In the end, the result was more respectable, but nevertheless a first blip for Slot’s men after five straight wins, giving rivals Arsenal the chance to close the gap at the top to three points.
And this one will really hurt Slot, who spent most of the game moaning his head off at the officials after a frustrating afternoon in the capital.
But let’s not forget about Oliver Glasner’s Palace, who were utterly superb and sat in second place at 5pm on Saturday.
No team in Europe’s top five leagues can match the Eagles’ current 18-game unbeaten run and find themselves in with a chance of more continental football next term if it carries on.
Liverpool could end up forking out a total £246million for both Isak and Wirtz should their respective bonuses be met and they achieve what is expected of them on Merseyside.
For now, their on-field telepathy remains a bit patchy. A confident start from the visitors saw the pair link up nicely in tight spaces but the final pass was always missing.
It appeared to be infectious among their team-mates as Palace took advantage of some all-round sloppiness.
Virgil van Dijk’s cross-field switch was nicked off the toes of Conor Bradley by Tyrick Mitchell and his one-two with Yeremy Pino took the hosts up the other end to win a corner.
Replays showed it should have been a goal-kick – the ball coming off Mitchell’s knee last – but Palace pounced on the good fortune with an in-swinger to the far post.
Ryan Gravenberch got caught in two minds, heading back into the danger area where Sarr was there, unmarked in the six-yard box, to poke into an empty net.
Slot was apocalyptically cross, marching down the touchline hollering and waggling his finger at referee Chris Kavanagh who rewarded the Dutchman with a deserved booking.
A sixth goal conceded in their opening six Prem outings, instead of shoring up and resetting, Liverpool continued to hit the self-destruct button.
Liverpool’s self-destruct button
Ibrahima Konate has been calamitous at times this term and was at it again, losing the ball on the half-way line that ended with Alisson getting down well to stop Pino from slotting home Sarr’s cut back.
Liverpool’s response was timid. A medical emergency in the stands in the 13th minute paused the game for five minutes before Salah finally smashed a free-kick into the wall and Gravenberch’s follow-up was tipped onto the post by Dean Henderson.
Back came Palace, piercing more holes in Liverpool’s defence, Mitchell again pulling back with Alisson’s reactions tested once more from a Daniel Munoz effort that was rebounded over the bar.
Seconds later, Mateta was through on goal, shrugging off calamity-Konate in the process only for Alisson to come to the rescue with a smothering stop.
A scoreline of 4-0 to Palace with 23 minutes on the clock would have been fully deserved as Slot frowned and grumbled in the dugout.
Konate’s day got worse with a yellow for wrestling Konate to the ground as Isak’s first real chance – rounding Henderson from a tight angle – was fluffed wide.
Slot goes for broke
Ten minutes added time was the last thing they needed, begging for the break, and Palace should have sent them there off the back of a second goal with Mateta’s beautiful, curling strike crashing off the inside of Alisson’s left-hand post and across goal.
Slot considered his half-time options and decided to go for broke, bringing off Bradley for Cody Gakpo and switching midfielder Gravenberch to right-back – and even at times playing without one.
Unsurprisingly, they were just as open, but at least were creating chances of their own as Gakpo sent a long-ranger fizzing just wide.
Wirtz then flicked on a cross that nearly caught Henderson out and Isak’s magical feet in the box carved out a shot that was agonisingly close, sparking chants of “what a waste of money”.
A final throw of the dice with 15 minutes left saw Konate and Wirtz hauled off for Jeremie Frimpong and Federico Chiesa with the Italian coming up with the goods with a back-post, scuffed effort into the corner.
A lengthy VAR check looked at a potential handball from Salah before being waved away, yet Palace – who had created chances all day – finally took one.
A free-kick was flicked on to the back post and there was Nketiah – the former Gunners man – cheating and volleying past Alisson that saw Glasner sprint down the touchline in celebration.
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