Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace: Nunez sees red as Diaz rescues point with wonder strike

It was a mixed night for Liverpool’s South Americans as Darwin Nunez was sent off on his home debut, but Luis Diaz scored a wonder goal to earn a point for the 10-man hosts in a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace.

A frustrating night for Jurgen Klopp’s team appeared to be heading for defeat after Wilfried Zaha’s first-half opener and Nunez’s dismissal just before the hour.

Diaz’s superb individual effort got his team level, though, before last season’s Premier League runners-up set about trying to find a winner but to no avail.

It represents another early season blow to Liverpool’s hopes of running champions Manchester City close again in the title race, already four points behind their rivals, but as with their opening draw against Fulham, it may feel like a point gained for Klopp in the circumstances.

It ends level.#LIVCRY pic.twitter.com/2DAGRlA7D5

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 15, 2022

Liverpool started brightly as they tried to find an early opener, with Nunez mishitting a volley at the far post, while Mohamed Salah also went close to scoring from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pull back, but the Egyptian’s side-footed attempt whizzed just wide of the near post.

After absorbing so much at the other end, it was Palace who took the lead in the 33rd minute when Eberechi Eze got away from Fabinho before playing Zaha in on goal, with the Ivory Coast international placing his shot past Alisson into the bottom-right corner.

Liverpool thought they were level just before the break as Harvey Elliott’s chip found Nunez down the left side of the penalty area, but his deflected shot came back off the post.

Things went from bad to worse for Nunez as the Uruguayan reacted to being shoved by Joachim Andersen by pushing his head into the Dane, with referee Paul Tierney immediately producing a red card for the Liverpool striker.

However, the Anfield atmosphere soon improved as Diaz dribbled inside several Palace defenders before unleashing a rocket of a shot past Vicente Guaita’s despairing dive to his left.

The hosts tried to find a winner despite having fewer players, though Palace could also have won it when Zaha missed a great chance at the far post, but both were forced to settle for a point.

What does it mean? Life after Mane could take some getting used to

Sadio Mane used to have a real knack of scoring against Crystal Palace, hitting 10 against them in his time in the Premier League, but his replacement at Anfield had a torrid time against the Eagles.

Nunez had five shots in his 57 minutes on the pitch but failed to hit the target once, before becoming only the second Liverpool player to be sent off on his first Premier League appearance at Anfield after Joe Cole vs Arsenal in 2010, which was also on August 15.

The former Benfica man will now miss the next few games for his new team, who will hope to have Roberto Firmino back for the trip to Manchester United next week after the Brazilian missed this one as a precaution.

Right side promise

While they were blunt in terms of putting the ball in the net, Liverpool did at least create, especially down their right.

Klopp’s men had 17 shots in the first half, with Alexander-Arnold and Salah making five key passes each in the opening 45 minutes alone.

Slow starting Liverpool fall behind again

For a team that built such a reputation for starting games quickly, Liverpool have become regulars at having to come from behind.

Across the end of last season and the beginning of this, Zaha’s goal was the sixth league game in a row the Reds have conceded first, though they have not lost any of them (W3 D3).

Key Opta Facts

– Liverpool have failed to win either of their first two games in a Premier League season for the fifth time and first time since 2012-13. The last time the Reds went onto lift the top-flight title having failed to win their first two games in a season was in 1981-82. 
– This was the first time Liverpool avoided defeat in a Premier League game having had a player sent off when trailing since March 2016, also against Crystal Palace (winning 2-1 after James Milner’s red card that day).
– Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 21 Premier League games (W16 D5), the longest current run in the competition. They have also found the net at least once in each of these 21 games, also the longest ongoing run. 
– Zaha became the first Crystal Palace player to score in two different Premier League matches versus Liverpool at Anfield (also May 2015). 

What’s next?

Liverpool travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United next Monday, while Palace host Aston Villa on Saturday.