Defender Aymeric Laporte was sent off right on the stroke of half-time for denying Wilfried Zaha a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
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An evening of drama unfolded in the English Premier League (EPL) on Saturday as Manchester City and Liverpool dropped points against Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion respectively. Liverpool had a two-goal lead nearing half-time against Brighton but the Seagulls showed immense character to pull two goals back and rescue a point from what many expected to be a one-sided game. City, on the other hand, were beaten 1-0 at home by Palace. Defender Aymeric Laporte was sent off right on the stroke of half-time for denying Wilfried Zaha a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Liverpool were held 2-2 at Anfield by Brighton and City were defeated 2-0 at the Etihad by Palace. Both results are extremely significant in the title race this season.
It took Palace only six minutes to open the scoring at the Etihad and it was none other than Wilfried Zaha who did the job yet again. Conor Gallagher stole the ball from Aymeric Laporte and played a sublime one-two with Zaha to beat Ruben Dias. Zaha then calmly rolled the ball past City goalkeeper Ederson to hand the lead to the away team.
City tried to get back into the match straight away as they launched attack after attack at the Crystal Palace goal. The Seagulls defended with their lives, especially defender Joel Ward, who did a brilliant job in holding off the pacey City attackers. Right on the stroke of half-time, Zaha tried to break on the counter as he received the ball with acres of space in front of him with the goal not far away. However, the Palace attacker was held back by Laporte and the referee deemed it prevention of a clear goal-scoring chance. Laporte was imminently sent off and City were down to 10 men.
The men in blue tried to get back on level terms in the second half and Phil Foden did get the ball in the back of the net on one occasion. However, he was adjudged offside by VAR and the goal was disallowed.
Gallagher doubled Palace’s lead in the 88th minute to rub salt into the wounds of Manchester City. Michael Olise powered forward with the ball and found Zaha in some space. The attacker held his nerve and passed the ball back to Olise, who in turn passed it to Gallagher. He made no mistake in finding the back of the net and sealed the points for Palace.
Over at Anfield, fans were treated to a display of great character by a resolute and determined Brighton side against Liverpool. The Reds took the lead in the fourth minute when Mohammed Salah cut in from the right and laid the ball to Jordan Henderson. The veteran midfielder found the back of the net and Liverpool had the lead.
Sadio Mane doubled the home team’s lead in the 24th minute. Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played a beautiful cross to the far post and Mane made no mistake and the Reds were 2-0 up.
Nobody could have expected what followed. Graham Potter’s Brighton showed the character of the highest order to score two goals and rescue an unlikely point at Anfield. Right before half-time, Enock Mwepu intended a cross into the box but the ball somehow found its way past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson to make the score 2-1.
Leandro Trossard scored the equalizer in the 65th minute when he cut back after being played by former Liverpool player Adam Lallana. Trossard shifted onto his right foot and smashed it past Alisson.
