Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool: Wirtz among the goals as pressure intensifies on Sage

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ShareCrystal Palace slumped to the bottom of the Premier League going into the international break, following a 3-1 defeat at home to Liverpool.Florian Wirtz scored his first Premier League goal of the season to help Liverpool to a 3-1 victory over struggling Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.Alexis Mac Allister and Alexander Isak were also on target as Andoni Iraola's Reds bounced back from last week's defeat to Arsenal, though they had to endure plenty of first-half pressure as Yeremy Pino hit the crossbar and Alisson was forced into two excellent saves.Eddie Nketiah scored from the penalty spot with the final kick of the game, but that will be scant consolation for Palace's under-fire head coach Pierre Sage, whose team go into the international break bottom of the table following four straight defeats.There were plenty of chances at both ends throughout a chaotic first half, which began with Jorgen Strand Larsen failing to turn Tyrick Mitchell's cross goalwards and Mac Allister sending a header into the side netting.Palace should have gone in front in the 18th minute, when Pino plucked another Mitchell delivery out of the air and lashed a ferocious half-volley across Alisson, which smacked off the crossbar.Strand Larsen also saw a close-range finish disallowed for offside, while Bradley Barcola blazed high over the crossbar at one end and Alisson rescued the Reds at the other, standing firm to repel Daichi Kamada's strike at his near post.And Liverpool made Palace pay for their wastefulness five minutes before the break, as Mac Allister escaped the attention of Quinten Timber and nodded Dominik Szoboszlai's right-sided free-kick into the far corner.Alisson made his best save yet to preserve the Reds' advantage, turning Adam Wharton's header around his post, but Iraola's side also had one last chance before the interval, as Ronald Araujo miscued from a glorious position in front of Dean Henderson. Liverpool had breathing room nine minutes into the second half, though, as Wirtz swept Barcola's loss from the right flank into the bottom-left corner. Another Alisson save kept Pino out with 77 minutes gone, though the Palace forward should certainly have done better after being picked out in space by Dario Osorio, before Isak finally ended Palace's hopes with one minute of regulation time remaining, beating Henderson via a deflection off Alex Disasi.A controversial penalty decision allowed Nketiah to score a 95th-minute consolation, with Milos Kerkez penalised for clattering Osorio in an aerial collision, but this latest defeat will do little to ease the pressure on Sage.  Wirtz ends his wait as Palace lose againWirtz's £116m price tag has appeared to saddle him with crushing expectations since he arrived on Merseyside from Bayer Leverkusen last year, but his failure to find the net in Liverpool's opening nine Premier League matches was not due to a lack of effort.Indeed, coming into this weekend's fixtures, Wirtz's 19 shots without finding the net were the most of any player in the Premier League this season.He needed three more to finally break his hoodoo on Sunday, with Palace becoming the first team the German has scored multiple goals against in the Premier League – his previous strike in the competition was the clinching goal in a 3-1 home win over the Eagles in May.But Liverpool were not entirely convincing in defence, with Alisson forced to make four saves in the first half alone. The last time a Liverpool goalkeeper made that many in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game, without conceding, was when the Brazilian himself did so against Wolves in December 2018.Palace, though, have clear issues in front of goal. Their figure of 2.38 expected goals (xG), albeit boosted by the late penalty, was only just short of Liverpool's 2.65, and both teams had five Opta-defined 'big chances' each in an end-to-end affair.The Eagles did at least avoid being shut out for a fourth straight Premier League game, but it is fair to wonder whether Sage will still be in charge when they visit Coventry City on November 21.Crystal Palace slumped to the bottom of the Premier League going into the international break, following a 3-1 defeat at home to Liverpool.Florian Wirtz scored his first Premier League goal of the season to help Liverpool to a 3-1 victory over struggling Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.Alexis Mac Allister and Alexander Isak were also on target as Andoni Iraola's Reds bounced back from last week's defeat to Arsenal, though they had to endure plenty of first-half pressure as Yeremy Pino hit the crossbar and Alisson was forced into two excellent saves.Eddie Nketiah scored from the penalty spot with the final kick of the game, but that will be scant consolation for Palace's under-fire head coach Pierre Sage, whose team go into the international break bottom of the table following four straight defeats.There were plenty of chances at both ends throughout a chaotic first half, which began with Jorgen Strand Larsen failing to turn Tyrick Mitchell's cross goalwards and Mac Allister sending a header into the side netting.Palace should have gone in front in the 18th minute, when Pino plucked another Mitchell delivery out of the air and lashed a ferocious half-volley across Alisson, which smacked off the crossbar.Strand Larsen also saw a close-range finish disallowed for offside, while Bradley Barcola blazed high over the crossbar at one end and Alisson rescued the Reds at the other, standing firm to repel Daichi Kamada's strike at his near post.And Liverpool made Palace pay for their wastefulness five minutes before the break, as Mac Allister escaped the attention of Quinten Timber and nodded Dominik Szoboszlai's right-sided free-kick into the far corner.Alisson made his best save yet to preserve the Reds' advantage, turning Adam Wharton's header around his post, but Iraola's side also had one last chance before the interval, as Ronald Araujo miscued from a glorious position in front of Dean Henderson. Liverpool had breathing room nine minutes into the second half, though, as Wirtz swept Barcola's loss from the right flank into the bottom-left corner. Another Alisson save kept Pino out with 77 minutes gone, though the Palace forward should certainly have done better after being picked out in space by Dario Osorio, before Isak finally ended Palace's hopes with one minute of regulation time remaining, beating Henderson via a deflection off Alex Disasi.A controversial penalty decision allowed Nketiah to score a 95th-minute consolation, with Milos Kerkez penalised for clattering Osorio in an aerial collision, but this latest defeat will do little to ease the pressure on Sage.  Wirtz ends his wait as Palace lose againWirtz's £116m price tag has appeared to saddle him with crushing expectations since he arrived on Merseyside from Bayer Leverkusen last year, but his failure to find the net in Liverpool's opening nine Premier League matches was not due to a lack of effort.Indeed, coming into this weekend's fixtures, Wirtz's 19 shots without finding the net were the most of any player in the Premier League this season.He needed three more to finally break his hoodoo on Sunday, with Palace becoming the first team the German has scored multiple goals against in the Premier League – his previous strike in the competition was the clinching goal in a 3-1 home win over the Eagles in May.But Liverpool were not entirely convincing in defence, with Alisson forced to make four saves in the first half alone. The last time a Liverpool goalkeeper made that many in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game, without conceding, was when the Brazilian himself did so against Wolves in December 2018.Palace, though, have clear issues in front of goal. Their figure of 2.38 expected goals (xG), albeit boosted by the late penalty, was only just short of Liverpool's 2.65, and both teams had five Opta-defined 'big chances' each in an end-to-end affair.The Eagles did at least avoid being shut out for a fourth straight Premier League game, but it is fair to wonder whether Sage will still be in charge when they visit Coventry City on November 21.