Crystal Palace 3 Liverpool 3: Three talking points

Rodgers or Pulis – Who will be manager of the season?

Both Brendan Rodgers and Tony Pulis deserve a round of applause for the jobs they have done this season. Crystal Palace, when under Pulis, has defied the odds to stay up. They developed a reputation as a team that is tough to beat something that was dissociated from them at the beginning of the season. Liverpool’s fast attacking mentality football has been a delight to watch this season and that is a reflection of Rodgers. His man management has helped produce remarkable performances from the likes of youngsters Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson combined with the scintillating attacking prowess of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez. Under Rodgers, Liverpool have been virtually unstoppable.

11 minutes that cost Liverpool the title

Lost for words. Liverpool had full control throughout the game with Palace failing to make a real impact. The only problem was that they didn’t kill the game off and that has ultimately cost them the title. Liverpool’s fast, fluid-attacking football began to die down and within a swift 11 minutes, allowed Crystal Palace to find the gaps to counter and score 3 quick fire goals. Yes it is still mathematically possible for Liverpool to still win the title but Man City have two home games and a superior goal difference. You just had to see the faces of Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez at the final whistle showed what the result meant. It’s hard not to say that Manuel Pellegrini and his men are now clear favourites for the title.

Palaces never say die attitude

You have to give credit were it is due. The fans were amazing and the spirit of the players was fantastic. Being 3-0 down, majority of teams would give up and roll over and you could include Crystal Palace in that category. Not Tony Pulis’ Palace. At 3-0 down, he sent on Dwight Gayle, Glenn Murray and Tom Ince. These changes changed the dynamic of the game, the belief of the players and potentially the destination of this year’s premier league title.