Crystal Palace: Kiraly Hughes Kolkka

Crystal Palace: Kiraly, Hughes, Kolkka.Man of the match: Baros.Attendance: 42,862.. But then already it is possible to see the point of his journey. It is to play a little closer to the heart of a great football city.Goals: Baros (23) pen 1-0; Kolkka (44) 1-1; Baros (45) 2-1; Hughes (52) 2-2; Baros (90) pen 3-2.Liverpool (4-4-2) : Kirkland; Josemi (Mellor, 79), Carragher, Hyypia, Traor?Garcia, Alonso, Hamann, Riise (Finnan, 62); Baros (Sinama-Pongolle, 90), Kewell. Substitutes not used: Dudek (gk), Biscan.Crystal Palace (4-1-4-1) : Kiraly; Leigertwood, Boyce, Popovic, Granville; Riihilahti (Soares, 76); Routledge (Lakis, 65), Hughes, Watson, Kolkka; Freedman. Once even Jamie Carragher, mystifyingly appearing in a forward position, benefited from the kind of through-ball which, had it come last spring, would have had Owen believing he had wandered into heaven.Benitez said that what pleased him most was that his team played right up to Baros’s winner in stoppage time “It is something you always want in your team,” he said “That way you always have the chance to win.

It is the most important thing.” Such application is vital, no doubt, but ultimately no more so than having a way to play, a rhythm that can be maintained whatever the course of the action.Whether Alonso’s compatriots Josemi and Luis Garcia have the potential to play such crucial roles in the development of a new Liverpool has to be more doubtful. Real football that is, football of the imagination and of genuine touch and spontaneity.The responsibility for this, in the continued absence of Steven Gerrard, is resting hugely on the subtleties of Alonso. He may not, as his predecessor did, launch himself with a hat-trick of trophy wins Instead, he may even make a false turn or two. Garcia produced some bewitching moments, but overall his impact was slight and nor was it any surprise when Josemi was sacrificed in the pursuit of more weight up front which came with the introduction of Neil Mellor with 11 minutes to go.For the moment, though, Benitez has surely bought himself a little time. After last week’s sickening home loss to Birmingham, pure gratitude indeed seemed the most legitimate guide to any analysis of Baros’s performance by the Liverpool manager.Take away the striker’s cutting edge, his relentless pursuit of anything that sniffed of opportunity, and Benitez’s infant Anfield revolution would surely have been at the mercy of Palace’s belief that they have what it takes to survive.Palace’s optimism is beginning to look well- founded.

The evidence of this game is that the Spaniard is capable of rising brilliantly to the challenge. His passing is at times both surgical and exquisite, and all the more dazzling as they come after the Houllier years of formless pressure.Long or short, Alonso’s delivery is as penetrative as it is precise. However, from the start Mourinho’s team imposed the principles of swift interpassing and closing down quickly, inspired by John Terry, a towering figure in defence who also made sorties upfield. From one such inspired move, the England centre-back advanced into a shooting position only to be thwarted by a desperate challenge.Seeming overawed by the opposition, Fulham could not break Chelsea’s grip on the game and had no answer to Robben who began to run at the tormented Volz with greater frequency.

It would have been a pity, because if the Spaniard clearly has mountains of work to do, he has already made a huge contribution to the spirit of Anfield in his first few months He has brought football back to the old place. But for the Baros factor, those quick, brilliantly realised break-outs, plus the impressive running of teenager Wayne Routledge, would have underlined the gathering assurance of a team widely dismissed as Premiership cannon fodder at the start of the season.It would have also cast even more severe doubt on the capacity of Benitez to return Liverpool to the serious end of the action. Manager Iain Dowie has long been a cult figure at Selhurst Park and more performances like this one from Palace will no doubt draw a wider following.Though injury robbed them of their own one-man strike force, Andy Johnson, Palace had plenty of fight and excellent balance. Their exuberant little Finnish winger Joonas Kolkka scored one goal of beautiful touch, and made another when he crossed perfectly for Michael Hughes to equalise in the second half. “One minute we were back in the game, the next it was all over The last of our confidence drained away,” he said After 73 minutes Chelsea went further ahead.

Put off by Gudjohnsen’s movement, Diop made a hash of dealing with Lampard’s free-kick and William Gallas stooped to score with an easy header.With Fulham now in complete disarray, Chelsea scored again, Robben’s dribbling skills followed by a cute back-heel, setting up an opportunity that Tiago guided into the far corner of Crossley’s goal.Coleman shook his head. “I’ve just told my players you were played off the park by a class team, and thankfully you do not have to play opposition like that every week. After 12 minutes the Dutchman dropped his shoulder and sped past Zat Knight to send in a low cross that only just failed to connect with Eidur Gudjohnsen’s surge into the penalty area. Next, Robben turned Volz again and held off Mark Pembridge as he used his acceleration to create another opening that Fulham struggled to deal with.Chelsea went ahead after Claude Makelele had been fouled just outside the penalty area in a central position. Fulham put five men in a defensive wall but Frank Lampard’s swinging strike in the 33rd minute gave Mark Crossley no chance of repeating earlier heroics in goal.For a brief period in the second half, Fulham got more into Chelsea’s face and equalised in the 57th minute when Lampard’s headed clearance fell to Pape Bouba Diop who volleyed back into the net from fully 30 yards Two minutes later, however, Chelsea were back in front. Displaying his marvellous agility and touch to the full, Robben danced past two tackles before stroking the ball past Crossley. All this while Mourinho was preparing to make a change, blaming poor concentration for Fulham’s goal.Coleman knew the game was up.