Luis Diaz salvaged a draw for Liverpool against Crystal Palace after summer signing Darwin Nunez was sent off in his Premier League debut at Anfield.
Wilfried Zaha stunned the home crowd with a fantastic strike on a counterattack in the 32nd minute to break the deadlock after Liverpool had dominated the first half.
It was the sixth consecutive league game in which Liverpool had conceded the opening goal, despite having over 75% control in the first half and 17 shots, albeit only three on target.
Crystal Palace pictures that go hard. #CPFC pic.twitter.com/WPO6Azn8j9
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) August 15, 2022
Nunez could have tied the game for Liverpool shortly before halftime, but his scuffed shot hit the far post and Virgil van Dijk failed to capitalise on the rebound.
The Uruguayan international, recently acquired from Portuguese club Benfica, was shown a straight red card in the 57th minute for an apparent headbutt on Joachim Andersen and will now serve a three-match suspension.
The dismissal emboldened Luis Diaz to take the game by the scruff of the neck in the 61st minute, when he cut in from the left, beat several opponents, and curled the ball past Vicente Guaita’s desperate dive to draw the hosts level.
After 78 minutes, Zaha had a fantastic opportunity to put Palace back in front, but he volleyed a low cross from Cheick Oumar Doucoure off the outside of the far post.
Liverpool also came close to grabbing the lead on a number of occasions, but Palace held tight to earn their first point of the season. The Eagles have now drawn their first two games at home.
A superb strike from @LuisFDiaz19 during the 1-1 draw with Palace 👏 pic.twitter.com/kkWZkj5QEK
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 15, 2022
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said that Nunez will learn from his mistake while asked about his red card.
“A little provocation here and there – and definitely the wrong reaction. A clear red card, I cannot deny that. Yeah, he will learn from that. Unfortunately, he has now a few games’ time to do so. That’s not cool for us in our specific situation, even less, but that’s how it is.” The German said in post match press conference.
Patrick Vieira was pleased to leave Anfield with a point despite having an extra player for the final thirty minutes.
“Of course I’m pleased with the point, but even more with the quality that we showed today. We showed some sides of the game that we need to show more often. We defended really well and we worked hard.” The Frenchman said in his post-match reaction.
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