Liverpool’s top four hopes were dealt a blow on Sunday afternoon.
Despite taking the lead through a Philippe Coutinho free-kick, a couple of goals either side from Christian Benteke saw Crystal Palace take all three points.
Not only was the sight of a former striker making a scoring return to Anfield hard to take for the majority of those inside the stadium, the fact he was joined by Mamadou Sakho when celebrating the first of his goals also left a sour taste in mouths.
The French defender is still (for now at least) a Liverpool player, on loan at Palace until the end of the season, so the sight of him celebrating a goal with the potential to scupper the club’s Champions League aspirations was obviously greeted with anger by plenty of supporters.
Now though, Sakho has attempted to defend himself.
“There is nothing behind it,” he told the Echo.
“When Christian scored, I stayed seated as I didn’t want to celebrate by respect for the club to which I belong and the fans.
“But when he came over to me, I stood up and did what we always do as friends, our hand check.
“There was nothing behind it, nothing else to imply by it. Just two friends who are playing for the same team and who have the same goal, which is to get the three points at each game to make sure the team stays in the Premier League.
“If we were losing 2-0 and Christian reduced the score, we would have also done it if he came to me.”
“We are very happy obviously. That was our goal when we set foot on the pitch. We need all the points we can get to be sure to stay in the Premier League – that is our mission. That is why I accepted the challenge with Palace, and we need to be the best we can as a team to succeed.”
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