Crystal Palace received their first ever trophy by means of FA Cup glory on the finish of 2024/25, and now they’ve additionally received the Group Defend, beating Liverpool on penalties to say the primary trophy of 2025/26.
Liverpool began brightly, with file signing Florian Wirtz organising one other newcomer – Hugo Ekitike – for an opener after lower than 4 minutes. Palace responded from the spot within the seventeenth minute, with Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring after Virgil van Dijk was judged to have fouled Eberechi Eze contained in the field. Liverpool shortly struck once more, this time with Jeremie Frimpong, yet one more new participant for the Reds, seeing his cross cheat Dean Henderson within the Palace objective within the twenty first, however Ismaila Sarr took benefit of a niche in Liverpool’s defence to stage once more within the 77th.
Thus the competition went to penalties, the place Liverpool star Mohamed Salah missed the goal, Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott had their pictures saved by Henderson, rendering well-taken penalties by Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai irrelevant. Mateta, Sarr and Justin Devenny scored for Palace, and it didn’t matter ultimately that Eze hit the bar and Alisson Becker saved from Borna Sosa.
Groups
Palace boss Oliver Glasner organized his line of defense with three gamers – Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix and captain Marc Guehi, forward of Henderson in objective. Adam Wharton paired up with Daichi Kamada in the midst of the park, with Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Munoz out vast. Eze and Sarr supported Mateta in assault.
As for Liverpool, coach Arne Slot included 4 new gamers within the beginning XI, leaving solely goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili on the bench with Alisson given the nod. Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate had been the centre-back pairing, flanked by Milos Kerkez and Frimpong. With Mac Allister not totally match and Ryan Gravenberch lacking by means of private causes, Curtis Jones and Szoboszlai acted as the 2 deep-lying midfielders. Wirtz was deployed within the No. 10 function, with Salah and Gakpo flanking Ekitike in assault.
Transient recap
It was at all times going to be fascinating to see Liverpool’s new signings in motion, and early indicators had been very promising. The transfer which ended with the opening objective was an excellent one, as Wirtz displayed his full energy of threading passes by means of tightest of areas and Ekitike produced a top-class end from across the fringe of the field.
Liverpool principally managed the proceedings within the first half. Palace hardly ever obtained close to Alisson’s objective, however Van Dijk, maybe as a result of he had made a number of defensive actions look simple early on, obtained a bit overconfident and made a late deal with on Sarr which prompted referee Chris Kavanagh to level to the spot. The complaints from the Dutch defender had been pointless and Mateta was ruthless.
Nevertheless it took solely 4 minutes for the Premier League champions to get forward once more, although it took loads of luck as properly. Frimpong’s cross from the precise appeared to be aimed on the run of Gakpo on the far put up, but it surely took a wierd trajectory and went over the outstretched hand of Henderson, bouncing off the put up into the online.
Kamada appeared to be in some discomfort and Glasner, most likely sensing he wanted to vary one thing in the midst of the park anyway, withdrew the Japan worldwide within the twenty ninth minute and despatched on Will Hughes.
The sport slowed down at that time and Liverpool went to the break with a deserved lead.
The Merseysiders tried to copy their early dominance after the restart and managed to peg Palace again for some time, however the Eagles defended properly and regularly grew again into the sport.
The plan of Glasner’s staff appeared to be to attempt to exploit Liverpool’s excessive line of defense. Passes had been regularly flung within the area behind the backs of Van Dijk and Konate, and after Mateta and Richards failed to attain from headers, the strategy virtually bore fruit as Alisson made a point-blank save to disclaim Eze within the 62nd minute.
Sensing his staff had been dropping management, Slot reacted by changing Jones and Ekitike with Mac Allister and Wataru Endo, but it surely barely made any distinction. Palace continued with their plan, and within the 77th minute, Wharton produced a improbable go down the channel between Van Dijk and Kerkez for Sarr to chase, and the Palace winger fired precisely previous Alisson to set the rating at 2-2.
With 10 minutes to go, Palace gamers appealed for one more penalty because the ball struck the arm of Mac Allister. Kavanagh didn’t give it and there was a VAR examine, however maybe as a result of the arm contact had truly set Sarr for a shot from a beneficial place, there was no change of determination.
Liverpool attacked once more late on, however other than one effort from Salah which Henderson saved, there was virtually nothing worthy of point out. Within the 84th minute, Wirtz left the pitch to get replaced by Elliott, however to no tangible impact. Szoboszlai additionally had a go and prompted one other save from Henderson in stoppage time, and Palace got here shut by means of Devenny, who had simply changed Guehi, however the shot trickled vast.
Deserved Palace victory
Although Liverpool had 60% of possession over the entire match, Palace actually deserved this triumph. They stood up and raised their recreation when it was wanted, forcing the Premier League champions to lose compass and exposing their defensive weaknesses.
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Although they’re the FA Cup holders, Crystal Palace received’t be enjoying within the Europa League – they’ve been demoted to the Convention League because of possession points involving Olympique Lyon, and after what they’ve suffered on that entrance, this can absolutely be remembered as an excellent day. It was their second victory at Wembley in 2025, and Liverpool’s second defeat after the Carabao Cup ultimate loss to Newcastle.
Liverpool left skinny up prime
The just lately accomplished sale of Darwin Nunez, to not point out the tragedy which took the lifetime of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, has left Liverpool with just one striker of their senior ranks. That’s why Slot had no actual firepower to ship on after the withdrawal of Ekitike, and they’ll absolutely look to the market to rectify this explicit drawback earlier than the switch window closes. Even the sale of Luis Diaz, a winger who typically performed as a ‘false 9’, has left its mark.
The Reds have been linked most closely with Newcastle goal-machine Alexander Isak and have had one provide for his companies rejected already. It was mentioned no second bid was forthcoming, however the departure of Nunez and the cash acquired for the Uruguay worldwide would possibly change their stance on that. Let’s wait and see. At this level, it can’t be disputed that they want one other high-quality ahead at this level.
Brilliant indicators from big-money signings
Then again, Slot can be happy with what he noticed from Wirtz, Ekitike and Frimpong on this recreation. All three newcomers had a superb first-half and recorded objective contributions, and the drop of their respective performances afterward was arguably extra all the way down to Slot himself. The Dutchman might want to devise extra tactical choices for these gamers, however that’s fully comprehensible at this stage of their integration into the squad.
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The season kicks off
Be that as it could, Slot has 5 days to study from this defeat, earlier than his staff takes on Bournemouth at Anfield within the Premier League opener on Friday. The expectations are understandably nice from a staff that received the league final season after which invested over €300million in signings, and after a formidable debut season because the Liverpool head coach, Slot must work onerous now to justify not solely his popularity, however the cash spent as properly.
In the meantime, Glasner clearly had an ideal 2024/25 too, main his staff to the primary trophy of their historical past, and with this victory, he has proven it was no fluke. For him, the duty at hand is to organize his males to tackle one other huge opponent, Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, on Sunday.
