Roberto Firmino celebrated his 150th Reds appearance with a goal as his late strike means Liverpool keep their unbeaten run rolling on.
The leaders faced a tough Crystal Palace side – who have previously been known to cost the away side the Premier League once before – as the Reds went in knowing they have to win in order to stay clear from City and Leicester.
Liverpool were on the attack from the get-go, running at Palace with real intent.
However, it wasn’t until the 18th-minute that Palace gained their first chance on goal. Kayoute received the ball and whipped in a cross towards the box, which landed in Ayew’s possession where he used the outside of his foot to try and direct his shot on target, but his effort drifted wide of the far post.
The Eagles got a lot more of the ball into the Liverpool half compared to their game against Chelsea a few weeks ago.
The Reds continued to use their long balls in a hope to find either Mane or Firminho free. Liverpool were not quite themselves in the first-half and it showed towards the end of the first 45.
Just before the break, Trent fouled Zaha which allowed Palace to be awarded a free-kick. The set-piece was whipped in and headed past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 to the home side.
However, the Reds were left off as VAR revealed there was a foul on Lovren by Jordan Ayew in the build-up. Boos echoed across the stadium as fans could not believe the goal was disallowed.
The second-half brought a lot more intensity to the game, although it was expected for Palace to come out with vengeance, it was Liverpool who came out attacking.
After missing a chance on goal in the early minutes of the first-half, Mane redeemed himself by opening the scoring for the visitors. Guaita failing to keep Mane’s shot out as the ball bounced off both posts, but finally went in.
However, it was Palace who would eventually steal the next goal, Wilfred Zaha allowed the ball to cross his body and then smashed it past Alisson into the bottom corner.
Three minutes later, however, five minutes away from stoppage time, a Liverpool corner which caused carnage inside the Palace box, with the ball pinballing all over the place.
Eventually, it fell into the feet of Firminho, who bundled home the winner. A very crucial goal, which allowed Liverpool to gain some breathing space.
Palace kept on fighting to equalise once again, Zaha found a chance on goal after a beautiful ball from Townsend, but nevertheless it was not to be.
The final whistle blew with the European Champions winning by 2-1 as Liverpool managed to maintain their eight-point lead at the top as they continue on their quest to become Premier League champions.
