Ghana star Jeffrey Schlupp says there were plenty of positives for him and his his Crystal Palace teammates to take from their defeat to Liverpool at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
The Eagles were beaten 3-1 by Jurgen Klopp’s side but impressed for long spells in the second half where it looked like they might snatch a point despite being 2-0 down at the break.
Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both netted during the first 45 minutes and looked good value for their lead, with Palace taking some time to get up to full speed in the game.
They were a much better side in the second half though and pushed the game onto their visitors, halving the deficit through
Odsonne Edouard and pushing for a leveller.
That equaliser didn’t come however, and the Reds sealed the points late on when Fabinho converted a controversial spot-kick in front of the Whitehorse Lane Stand.
Despite the defeat – the first time Palace have suffered two losses at home in a row this season – Schlupp said his side should try and take what momentum they could into their next fixtures.
“We didn’t start the first half as well as we would have liked to but we obviously showed a lot of fight and some quality to get back into the game later on in the first half,” the Ghanaian international told PalaceTV after the game.
“Especially the second half of it, we dominated the game. Obviously, we had some decisions go against us that we didn’t really agree with, but at the end of the day [we had] a good second-half performance.
“I thought we outplayed them and so we need to take those positives into our next games.”
Schlupp has started each of Palace’s last four games in midfield and, like last time out against Brighton, he had a crucial role in setting up a goal.
At the Amex he kept the ball alive on the byline and pulled it back for Conor Gallagher to score, while this time he played an inch-perfect pass through to Jean-Philippe Mateta who unselfishly squared for Edouard to tap into an empty net.
Jeffrey Schlupp who missed Ghana’s participation at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, will, however, expected to make the Black Stars squad for the Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup crucial play-offs clash against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in March.
