- Crystal Palace lost to Liverpool
- Freddie Woodman earned praise from Oliver Glasner
- English goalkeeper deputised for Alisson Becker
Oliver Glasner praised Liverpool goalkeeper Freddie Woodman following Crystal Palace’s 3-1 defeat at Anfield. The Eagles came up against a familiar face in Woodman, who started his career at the club.
Woodman rose through the youth ranks at Palace before joining Newcastle United at U18 level. He has since spent time at Preston North End and Swansea City.
The 29-year-old was called upon due to injuries to Alisson Becker and Giorgi Mamardashvili. He performed well on the day and was beaten only by a controversial goal from Daniel Munoz.
‘Day of his Life’ – Glasner Praises Woodman
Liverpool’s win came courtesy of goals from Alexander Isak, Andy Robertson and Florian Wirtz. Munoz pulled one back to make it 2-1 and that came when Woodman went down injured.
Glasner rued suffering his first-ever Anfield defeat in his last encounter with the Reds before leaving at the end of the season. He felt the hosts were more clinical than the visitors:
“The difference was the efficiency. Liverpool were clinical and we were not.”
The Austrian then touched on Woodman’s performance:
“The goalkeeper had the day of his life so congrats to him. We kept believing until the end. It was really positive and this is what we take into the final weeks.”
Woodman made just his third appearance of the season and performed well deputising for Alisson. He spoke after the game and admitted that he’s still a “massive fan” of Palace.
Palace Must Bounce Back
Glasner and his troops can’t afford to dwell too long on the defeat to Liverpool, which has almost certainly ended their hopes of European qualification. The loss leaves the Eagles 13th in the Premier League, six points behind seventh-placed Bournemouth with five games remaining.
The focus turns to this Thursday’s trip to Poland to face Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League semi-final. It’s the biggest game of the season thus far, and the team must put the disappointment of losing at Anfield quickly behind them.
Palace are still on course to end the season with another major trophy after last season’s FA Cup triumph. If they beat Shakhtar over two legs, they will meet either Strasbourg or Rayo Vallecano in the final in Leipzig.
