The Egyptian king struck late to seal a point and match a Premier League record
Mohamed Salah struck again to prevent Liverpool from finishing the season with a loss as he popped up to secure a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace. The Reds hero scored his 29th goal of the season to match the Premier League record for most goal involvements in a single season, having also registered 18 assists.
Salah rescued Arne Slot's men from a third defeat in four games after a first-half goal from the visitors and a Ryan Gravenberch red card in the second put the English champions under pressure in their final game of the campaign.
The opening goal came out of nothing amid a slow start to the game. Tyrick Mitchell stole the ball in the middle of the park and played a simple pass through to Ismaila Sarr in plenty of space, giving him time to pick his spot. Palace packed the box whenever Liverpool attacked, forcing them to rely on crosses into Luis Diaz, but it was the visitors who next put the ball in the net, though the flag went up on Jean-Philippe Mateta.
FA Cup final penalty hero Dean Henderson pulled off a great save to deny Luis Diaz, who lashed out at the goalpost after squandering a cutting pass from Salah. The Egyptian star had his first attempt early in the second half when he was found in a good spot, but it was deflected wide.
Darwin Nunez should have tied it up shortly after coming off the bench as he charged in on goal after a great pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Henderson kept him out. Things got worse for Liverpool in the 67th minute when Ryan Gravenberch failed to control the ball and clumsily fouled Daichi Kamada in an attempt to recover. The Dutchman was the last man and was quickly shown a red card.
Liverpool remained dominant despite the dismissal and saw Diogo Jota hit the post from close range before Gakpo's shot was plucked out of the air by Henderson following a promising run.
Just as it appeared the hosts were doomed to defeat, Nunez sent a cross onto the head of Cody Gakpo, who nodded it down for Salah to blast in with the help of a deflection, ensuring he joins Alan Shearer and Andy Cole in the record books.
GOAL rates Liverpool's players from Anfield…
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Alisson (7/10):
Kept Palace out with a couple of saves.
Conor Bradley (4/10):
Gave the ball away to let Palace score and was taken off at half-time.
Ibrahima Konate (6/10):
Made some important stops despite Palace managing to break through a few too many times.
Virgil van Dijk (7/10):
Won a lot of headers and swept up at the back well enough.
Andy Robertson (5/10):
Lost the ball on occasion but offered decent support in attack.
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Ryan Gravenberch (4/10):
Sent off for a bad challenge in an otherwise quiet performance.
Curtis Jones (6/10):
Put in a lot of effort and filled in at the back after the red card.
Dominik Szoboszlai (6/10):
Made a couple of chances before he went off at the hour mark.
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Mohamed Salah (7/10):
Barely involved in the first half and looked off the pace but still managed to play a decisive role.
Luis Diaz (5/10):
Didn't have much space to work with but managed to get onto a few good chances before he was subbed after the red card.
Cody Gakpo (7/10):
Put some dangerous balls into the box and headed down well for Salah.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold (7/10):
An improvement on Bradley with his dangerous passes and corners in his last ever Liverpool appearance.
Darwin Nunez (5/10):
Had a great chance but his shot was saved.
Diogo Jota (6/10):
Hit the post as he attempted to bring Liverpool back into it.
Wataru Endo (6/10):
Threw himself into it after coming on in response to the red card.
Harvey Elliott (N/A):
A late replacement for Robertson.
Arne Slot (6/10):
His team looked rough against the FA Cup winners as they end the season without a win in four games, but he won't be bothered at this point.
