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Finally, Liverpool beaten by Crystal Palace 2-1
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League champions on Saturday got defeated as unbeaten Crystal Palace slammed the team 2-1.
Having become the masters of scoring late in the Premier League this season, Liverpool saw their familiar script flipped on Saturday afternoon when they suffered a last-gasp 2-1 victory at the hands of an ascendent Crystal Palace.
After being comprehensively outplayed during a first half in which Ismalia Sarr’s ninth-minute goal gave the hosts a deserved lead, Arne Slot’s side thought they had done enough to snatch a precious point thanks to Federico Chiesa’s strike in the 87th minute. Palace, though, ensured their visitors got a taste of their own medicine, with substitute Eddie Nketiah rifling home the winner in the final seconds of the game.
The victory moves Palace up to second in the Premier League table and extends their unbeaten run to 18 games in all competitions. However, perhaps the biggest victory for the South London club came last month in the boardroom, when chairman Steve Parish put the brakes on captain Marc Guéhi’s deadline day transfer to Anfield.
This was an afternoon when the England defender’s importance to Palace — and Liverpool’s defensive frailties — were laid bare. In fact, the hosts’ dominance in the first half was such that Slot and his players may well have shook hands on a narrow defeat at the break.
Sarr — who now has five goals in eight career games against Liverpool — put Palace ahead after nine minutes after the visitors failed to deal with an early corner, before both Yeremy Pino and Daniel Muñoz forced Alisson Becker into fine saves to keep the game in the balance.
The Liverpool supporters in the away end at Selhurst Park could perhaps be forgiven for casting admiring glances at the impressive Guehi, who barely put a foot wrong while Ibrahima Konaté struggled to handle the threat of the ever-lively Jean Philippe-Mateta.
In a week when an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury to 18-year-old centre-back Giovanni Leoni put Liverpool’s defensive options in the spotlight, Guehi’s quiet brilliance offered the champions a painful reminder of what could have been. At the other end of the pitch, too, Liverpool toiled despite the abundance of attacking talent on the pitch.
In the first half, British-record signing Alexander Isak completed just one of his four passes and while his influence grew significantly after the break, he was substituted off the pitch to cries of “What a waste of money!” by the Palace supporters.
Fellow summer arrival Florian Wirtz also took time to impose himself on the game, while Mohamed Salah’s biggest contribution of the afternoon arguably game when he deflected Dominik Szoboszlai’s goal-bound shot wide of the net.
Instead, it fell to substitute Chiesa to restore parity for Liverpool, finishing smartly past Dean Henderson from close range to set his team on course for another late escape.
Had Slot’s side managed to see the game through, Chiesa’s strike would have constituted their fifth result-changing goal in the final 10 minutes this season; no other Premier League team has more than two.
Whether those numbers are down to quality, perseverance or sheer good luck, the law of averages suggested that Liverpool were always likely to fall foul of a moment of late magic at some point.
And so it proved, with former Arsenal man Nketiah giving his old club a huge early-season boost in the title race when he struck with virtually the last kick of the game, after Liverpool failed to deal with a long throw by Jefferson Lerma, to propel the home crowd into dreamland.
An entire youth football team from Ethiopia has reportedly disappeared in Sweden after taking part in the Gothia Cup, one of the world’s largest international youth football tournaments.
According to reports by Sweden Herald, about 20 members of the delegation including players aged between 14 and 17, as well as several adult supervisors left their hotel in Gothenburg without checking out and have not been seen since.
The Gothia Cup concluded about 10 days ago, but Swedish authorities say the group has neither been located nor returned to Ethiopia.
Officials have since launched a coordinated search involving the Swedish Migration Agency, border police, and authorities in other countries in an effort to trace the missing team members.
Authorities have not disclosed the circumstances surrounding the group’s disappearance or whether they are believed to have left Sweden voluntarily.
The incident has drawn international attention as investigations continue to determine the whereabouts of the players and their supervisors. No further official information has been released regarding the case.
Neymar Jr has formally retired from international duty with Brazil following their disappointing World Cup.
The 34-year-old is his nation’s record goalscorer with 80 goals in 130 caps and scored in a fourth World Cup with a penalty against Norway.
But he could not save Carlo Ancelotti’s side from an early exit and struggled for fitness throughout.
Back with Santos and back in the headlines, the former Barcelona forward has now confirmed he will not play in the famous yellow shirt again.
“My time with the national team is over. I made history, I was very happy, I gave my all, my life,” he said.
“I always fought and gave my best for this jersey, but I think I don’t want it anymore.”
Neymar made his Brazil debut in 2010, scoring on his debut against the USA. He was a star at the 2014 World Cup until he injured his back and without him Brazil were humiliated 7-1 by Germany in the semi-final.
He won the Confederations Cup in 2013 and was runner-up in the Copa America of 2021 but retires after being unable to guide Brazil to a major honour.
Neymar received criticism in the Brazilian press this week after he took part in a poker tournament while he was returning to full fitness following the World Cup.
The 34-year-old celebrated in his comeback match by pretending to deal poker cards, having explained at the time of the reports that he had trained with Santos and been given permission to pursue his pastime.
Former Al-Hilal, Paris-Saint-Germain and Barcelona playmaker Neymar now has six goals in this season’s Serie A, scoring his first club goals since May 10 on his first Santos appearance since May 17.
Debutants Malawi pulled off a shock 3-2 victory over Nigeria’s Super Falcons in their opening Group C fixture at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Rabat.
The result marks a stunning start to the tournament for Malawi, who are appearing at WAFCON for the first time, while Nigeria began their campaign with defeat.
The first half was goalless, with the Super Falcons dominating possession and territory but unable to find a breakthrough. Chiamaka Nnadozie was called into action to deny Malawi late in the half, while Nigeria squandered several chances of their own, including a good opportunity from a cross into the box.
Nigeria brought on Toni Payne for Folashade Ijamilusi early in the second half in search of a way through, but it was Malawi who struck first, capitalising on a defensive lapse to go 2-0 up in the 80th minute.
Nigeria responded in stoppage time, pulling a goal back in the 90+2nd minute, but Malawi restored their two-goal cushion moments later to make it 3-1. Uchenna Kanu gave Nigeria a glimmer of hope with a goal deep into added time, but it wasn’t enough — the match finished 3-2 to Malawi.
The 2026 WAFCON doubles as the qualification tournament for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, raising the stakes for Nigeria as they look to bounce back in their remaining group matches.
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