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Mohamed Salah struck again to prevent Liverpool from finishing the season with a loss as he popped up to secure a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace. The Reds' hero scored his 29th goal of the season to match the Premier League record for most goal involvements in a single season, having also registered 18 assists.
Salah rescued Arne Slot's men from a third defeat in four games after a first-half goal from the visitors and a Ryan Gravenberch red card in the second put the English champions under pressure in their final game of the campaign.
The opening goal came out of nothing amid a slow start to the game. Tyrick Mitchell stole the ball in the middle of the park and played a simple pass through to Ismaila Sarr in plenty of space, giving him time to pick his spot. Palace packed the box whenever Liverpool attacked, forcing them to rely on crosses into Luis Diaz, but it was the visitors who next put the ball in the net, though the flag went up on Jean-Philippe Mateta.
FA Cup final penalty hero Dean Henderson pulled off a great save to deny Diaz, who lashed out at the goalpost after squandering a cutting pass from Salah. The Egyptian star then had his first attempt early in the second half when he was found in a good spot, but it was deflected wide.
Darwin Nunez should have tied it up shortly after coming off the bench as he charged in on goal after a great pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Henderson kept him out. Things got worse for Liverpool in the 67th minute when Gravenberch failed to control the ball and clumsily fouled Daichi Kamada in an attempt to recover. The Dutchman was the last man and was quickly shown a red card.
Liverpool remained dominant despite the dismissal and saw Diogo Jota hit the post from close range before Gakpo's shot was plucked out of the air by Henderson following a promising run.
Just as it appeared the hosts were doomed to defeat, Nunez sent a cross onto the head of Gakpo, who nodded it down for Salah to blast in with the help of a deflection, ensuring he joins Alan Shearer and Andy Cole in the record books.
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