After Liverpool lost to Atalanta in midweek, it gave Crystal Palace an idea of how they could take on The Reds.
Jurgen Klopp saw his side battle valiantly but fail to overturn an early goal by Ebere Eze, in what could prove a costly loss in the title race. Afterwards, Crystal Palace substitute Jairo Riedewald told FourFourTwo how his side exploited the space, merely following Atalanta's lead after the Bergamo outfit also beat Liverpool last week.
“I think most people were shocked about their result on Thursday, [losing] 3-0 against Atalanta, so we took that with us in our game, and we could see there were spaces and chances for us,” the Dutchman said.
“They have a high counter-press, they press a lot and then sometimes there will be space behind that. Apart from our goal, in the first half we also had a one-on-one chance which was cleared off the line and in the second half we had a big chance as well.”
“[Oliver Glasner] is clear what he wants and what he expects from the players. You wouldn’t say beforehand you would get three points at Liverpool. Those are a bit like bonus points, we are happy to take them.”
Riedewald says, however, that the Eagles knew the second half would be testing. With Palace having to sit back for much of the game, the midfielder said that the key to the victory was in maintaining a block without retreating too far.
“We were leading 1-0 at half time, so then you know they would go full speed in the second half. So we tried to defend, but not stay too deep; still a bit high [up the pitch] so that we could be dangerous on the break. You have to take what you can get and today it was three points, with which we are very happy.”
Riedewald came on in the 77th minute and helped his team to hold on and secure the victory in the end. He might have not played as much as he would have liked in recent years, but when Riedewald has been on the field this season, Palace have had some good results: away at Manchester United (a 1-0 win) and against Manchester City (a 2-2 draw). In fact, with Riedewald on the pitch Crystal Palace haven’t lost this season in the Premier League.
“I was injured for six weeks, I came back and trained for the first time on Wednesday,” he says. “So that the manager took me straightaway to Liverpool gives me confidence – and then I came on as well, that’s great. I worked hard during my rehab.”
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