Liverpool fight back to edge past Crystal Palace with Adam Lallana winner

Liverpool can consider this an exorcism. All those hideous memories of three-goal capitulations in this area, of recent surrenders that knocked the stuffing out of a title pursuit or even left the manager publicly admitting the fragility of his own position, have been banished after Crystal Palace, a team who have so delighted of late in undermining those from Merseyside, were finally quelled. The manner of the visitors’ celebrations at the final whistle told its own story.

In a competition that has been trimmed of so many contenders currently occupying the higher echelons of the top flight, Brendan Rodgers’ team will sense how close they are now to Wembley and major silverware. The effervescence of their attacking play squeezed them home for the first time in seven visits to this corner of south London, Liverpool’s reluctance to panic when they trailed at the interval just as admirable as the much-needed defensive resilience they mustered with a rejigged system after the break.

Where Mamadou Sakho and Martin Skrtel had initially worn the haunted looks familiar from last May’s mind-bogglingly wasteful 3-3 draw here, or even the convincing 3-1 loss in November, they ended up as towers of strength as the hosts attempted in vain to stage a recovery. The centre-backs heaved to contain Palace’s late attempts at a riposte, departing at the end side by side as exhausted inspirations where once they had appeared laughing stocks. They were spared a more searching test here, with the home side lacking the aggression that had typified their comebacks in those two games last year, but Liverpool’s new-found defensive ruggedness is still an indication of progress.

Rodgers suggested that reverse as winter set in had “been the making of this team”. “We were at a real low point at that time, with a lot of new players trying to adapt to the pressures of playing for Liverpool and the raised expectations after the way the team had been developing in the two previous years,” he explained. “It wasn’t working back then, with key players out, and it was my responsibility to find a way to make it work. We had to arrest that negative momentum and try and get the team back playing with the intensity and aggression they had done for nearly two years. We had to have an intervention after that defeat.” That loss to Neil Warnock’s side has been followed by two defeats in 22 matches in all competitions.

They will surely continue to prosper with Daniel Sturridge restored to their number and with Mario Balotelli suddenly in the mood to contribute. The Italian had been introduced at half-time, when Liverpool were perplexed as to how their 17 attempts had gone unrewarded up to then. Julián Speroni had done wonderfully well to thwart Adam Lallana while the referee, Robert Madley, somehow deemed Pape Souaré’s rash lunge through Sturridge unworthy of a penalty. But, with a conventional strike partnership at their tip, the visitors found their range.

Jordan Henderson’s delicious delivery between Scott Dann and Martin Kelly was dispatched emphatically by Sturridge for the equaliser and a 10th FA Cup goal in 12 starts in the competition. It was Balotelli who drew the free-kick from Dann just before the hour-mark, the substitute’s subsequent shot skimming through a fractured defensive wall for Speroni to push out, only for Lallana to react quickest and thump in the rebound.

“Our composure in that second half was very good,” said Rodgers. “Once we shortened the pitch in the second half, moved the game higher up the field and kept hold of the ball, it was just going to be a matter of time. The team is functioning at a high level at the moment, and Daniel’s return has given us a big boost.”

Palace were deflated, the second period an anticlimax even if their lead had always felt deceptive. In those early periods, Skrtel and Sakho had been diminished yet again by the pace and movement of Dwight Gayle and Yannick Bolasie, such familiar tormenters. Skrtel and Emre Can had been caught flat-footed when Joe Ledley floated an innocuous ball into the penalty area for Gayle to dart into the space between centre-halves, the Slovak stretching to flick on only for the striker to reach the loose ball first. His point-blank header was pawed out by the onrushing Simon Mignolet, but Fraizer Campbell scored regardless.

The Belgian goalkeeper ended up feeling heroic for denying Gayle a second just before the break – “the pivotal moment”, according to Alan Pardew – but those had been rare clear-cut opportunities for a team who have struggled all season on home territory. Souaré looked rusty and susceptible on his debut at left-back after his £3.45m move from Lille, drawing veiled criticism from his manager, and this was a wake-up call for what lies ahead, while Marouane Chamakh consistently appears a threat but is forever reduced to cameos either through injury or ill-discipline. Pardew has much to ponder with Arsenal visiting on Saturday and the relegation cut-off still only five points away.

His team’s season has been left as a struggle to steer clear of trouble, the manager admitting this had been “one of our worst performances under me” since he took up the reins in the new year. For Liverpool, the prospect of claiming the first trophy of Rodgers’ tenure and the last of Steven Gerrard’s Anfield career lives on.