Slot admits Crystal Palace were worthy winners as Nketiah winner ends the defending champions’ winning start.
Arne Slot admits that Crystal Palace has given Liverpool a lot to be worried about after they defeated the champions 2-1 with a late goal from Eddie Nketiah. After Liverpool failed to clear a long throw, the former Arsenal striker scored a volley in the seventh minute of stoppage time, making Palace the only team in the Premier League without a loss. They are currently three points behind the leaders in second place.
Federico Chiesa equalled Ismaïla Sarr’s opening goal three minutes from time following a corner, giving Liverpool, who had won their first five league games, the impression that they had saved a point. Slot was candid enough to admit that Palace deserved to win, even though he refused to attribute their defensive problems to a failure to defend set pieces after also losing from two at Newcastle last month.
“They had more than only two set-piece goals,” said the Liverpool manager. “They didn’t score more, but they had chances from open play, from transition. So there were more things not to like than only defending the set-pieces.
“The good thing was that in the other moments, Alisson saved us. Palace have a few threats. Set-pieces are one of them, but counterattack and balls in behind are number two and three. From all these situations, they’ve created a lot of chances. We were able to create quite a lot against a Palace team, which hardly ever concedes a chance.
“But when you look at the first half, they totally deserved to win. In the second half, it was a much better performance from us. If one team deserved to win, it was Palace.”
After a first half he called the finest Palace has played since he took over from Roy Hodgson, manager Oliver Glasner was full of praise for his team. As they get ready to play Dinamo Kyiv in their Conference League opener on Thursday, the Austrian, who had to wait until the ninth game of the season to secure his first victory the previous season, cautioned that being undefeated thus far and matching the club’s record of 18 games without a loss across all competitions means nothing.