Ruthless Liverpool puts seven past Palace

London

It marked the first time Liverpool had won away in the top-flight by a margin of seven goals and was its biggest league victory since it hammered Palace 9-0 at Anfield in 1989 when it won the old top-flight First Division title. The result put the defending champion on 31 points after 14 games, ahead of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, which hosts Leicester City on Sunday.

Japanese midfielder Takumi Minamino repaid Jurgen Klopp’s decision to start him by scoring after just over two minutes. Sadio Mane then made it two when he twisted and fired home from the edge of the box in the 35th minute. Firmino added a third just before the break, flicking home to finish off a glorious Liverpool counter-attack.

And, Jordan Henderson added a fourth seven minutes into the second half as Palace fell apart. Firmino got his second with a brilliant chipped effort in the 68th minute and Salah came on to net with a header before superbly curling a shot into the top corner five minutes from time.

Henderson praised his side’s efforts in front of goal but, despite the dominant display and the margin of victory, the midfielder said his side could still improve. “I thought we were ruthless and took our chances which is always important. We dominated the game for large periods but I still thought we were sloppy at times,” he told BT Sport.

“Overall, the performance level, we have to be happy. Now we have a week leading to the next game. Then another tough test again,” he added ahead of the visit of West Bromwich Albion.