liverpool-logoLiverpool FC are still on course to give their long serving captain Steven Gerrard the perfect send-off after beating one of their bogey teams Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Liverpool showed great courage as they came back from a goal down against Palace to win 2-1 thanks to two second half goals from Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana.

Liverpool came into the match missing Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva and Raheem Sterling through injuries.

After coming on as a sub and impressing against Spurs just two days before Adam Lallana was given a start while Joe Allen replaced injured Gerrard in midfield.

The Reds dominated possession from kick-off while Palace looked like they were happy conceding possession to Liverpool. Despite having most of the Possession Liverpool never looked liked scoring.

However in the 15th minute totally against the follow of play Frazier Campbell drew first blood for Palace as he scored from as rebounded shot of Dwight Gayle.

Reds continued to look dominant through the half but failed to score. Before the start of the second half Brendan Rodgers brought on Wednesday’s match winner against Spurs Mario Balotelli on for Lazar Markovic.

Mario’s introduction proved to be catalyst that was missing as Liverpool soon found their equalizer as Sturridge scored from a delightful Henderson cross in the 49th minute.

Sturridge-and-Moreno-doing-the-Sturridge-dance-after-the-former-scored-the-1st-goal-vs-Palace

Sturridge and Moreno doing the Sturridge dance after the former scored the 1st goal vs Palace

Nearly 10 minutes after the first goal Liverpool went ahead thanks to Mario and Lallana. Mario played a superb one-two with Lallana but was brought down just outside the box thus earning a Free-kick.

The man himself decided to take the free-kick and he shot it low and produced a excellent save from Julian Speroni. Unfortunately for the Palace keeper the ball rebounded off him and straight to Adam Lallana who made a clever run past the Palace defense and thumped his shot in.

Liverpool managed to hold onto their lead but to be fair Palace looked liked they had given-up well before the end of the game.

The Mario Effect

Mario-BalotelliThe Performance of Mario has come as an unexpected reward for Liverpool. The talented Italian striker has had an awful time at Liverpool scoring just three goals for the Reds so far with only one of them coming in the league.

However Mario made an important contribution to the Liverpool’s season as he scored the match winner versus Tottenham last Wednesday in a 3-2 Liverpool win. His performance against Crystal Palace was lively and he linked up well with his team-mates especially Lallana.

Palace players tried to rough him up a bit but Mario was all smiles and looked calm and happy. We have seen so many versions of Super Mario but he has surprised as all with a new version of himself –The All Smiles Mario!

If Mario keeps on impressing in his super sub role then a call to the starting will come his way sooner rather than later. Mario has himself revealed he wants to help Liverpool reach the FA Cup final for their long term captain Steven Gerrard.

Liverpool will next face Beskitas in the UEFA Cup so let’s all hope for some Super Mario magic in Europe.