Liverpool may have lost three of the last four matches against their south London rivals Crystal Palace, but fans from both teams went into Saturday’s evening draw with a high scoreline in mind.
They weren’t disappointed.
Emre Can launched the Reds’ campaign for a win, firing a left-footed kick into the bottom right of the Palace goal after 15 minutes.
In an extraordinarily quick change of fortunes, some poor defending by Dejen Lovren saw James McArthur equalise two minutes later, driving a low header header past Loris Karius.
If Reds fans were starting to lose patience with their back four, they only had to wait another three minutes before a sheepish Lovren atoned for his earlier mistake and brought the scoreline back to Liverpool’s favour with a header of his own.
And the roller-coaster didn’t stop there.
Further first-half goals saw Palace equalise 10 minutes later to bring the tally up to 2-2 following a second goal from James McArthur, and Joel Matip’s first goal in a Liverpool shirt at 43 minutes, to secure a 3-2 lead for the visitors at half time.
Commentators were quick to dub it the best first half of the season and, agree or not, it was certainly the highest scoring.
Liverpool continued their attacking play in what was a more muted second half performance, with the northern side never really looking like letting the lead slip.
With Palace racking up fouls, two frustrated dives by Wilfried Zaha inside the box went unrewarded by referee Andre Marriner on 58 and 69 minutes.
#PALLIV.is a fabulous game to watch. Both managers will do their nuts half time, which is why it's so good
— Graham Johns (@GrahamDJohns) October 29, 2016
Well, we were promised "heavy metal" football… is this how goths feel after a couple of songs #intense #LFC #PALLIV
— James Morris (@J10Morris) October 29, 2016
What a brilliant half of football #PALLIV
— Craig Harrison (@greg_g_manRH) October 29, 2016
It was Roberto Firmino who finalised the win with a right-footed chip down the centre, before being booked shortly afterwards for unsporting behaviour.
Even with an added four minutes, Crystal Palace were unable to change their fortunes and had to consign themselves to their third Premier League loss in a row.
Uneventful then. #PALLIV pic.twitter.com/KvGLCyoUMp
— Kevin K (@noredsquigglies) October 29, 2016
Match of the season, this! #PALLIV
— Seb Patrickortreat (@sebpatrick) October 29, 2016
Despite being somewhat of a bogey team for Liverpool, whose defence certainly looked shaky at points, the visiting side rarely looked as if they might buckle under the pressure.
One thing’s for sure though: it was one cracking game of football.
