Arne Slot says a late action by a Liverpool player “served no purpose” and ended up costing the team.

Liverpool Suffer First Premier League Loss of the Season Against Crystal Palace

Liverpool endured their first Premier League defeat of the campaign with a 2-1 loss away to Crystal Palace. The home side clinched the win with a dramatic late goal from Eddie Nketiah in stoppage time. Ismaila Sarr had opened the scoring early on for Palace, and despite several chances to extend their lead, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker kept his side in contention with a series of impressive saves.

In the second half, Liverpool showed more urgency and eventually equalised through Federico Chiesa. It appeared they might leave with a hard-earned point, but a lapse in concentration in the dying moments allowed Palace to strike from a corner and seal all three points.

Pundit Martin Keown criticised a Liverpool player’s performance, suggesting it had been a “nightmare” showing. One key error came from Jeremie Frimpong, who was caught out in the final moments. Instead of staying back to defend, Frimpong pushed forward in anticipation of a counter-attack — despite the fact that the game was virtually over. This left Nketiah unmarked in the box, and he capitalised to score the winner.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot was critical of his side’s defending, particularly Frimpong’s decision-making. “We can only blame ourselves for defending the way we did,” Slot said. “One of our players ran forward for a counter-attack, which made no sense as time was up — the only thing left to do was defend.”

Despite the last-gasp winner, Palace were the better team overall and deserved their victory. It remains to be seen how Liverpool will respond to this setback in the coming matches.