On this day: 'Crystanbul' ruins Liverpool title dream as Palace stage stunning fightback from 3-0 down

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Tom Dutton5 May 2020

"An amazing night at Selhurst Park, Liverpool have caved in!"

Martin Tyler bellowed in disbelief as Gayle celebrated his second and Palace's third in front of a bouncing Holmesdale Road end, Liverpool fans looked on in utter disbelief; their title hopes up in smoke.

Just nine minutes earlier Palace, who had already secured survival and had little to play for, were 3-0 down and seemingly on course for the 20th defeat of their maiden season back in the top flight.

Tony Pulis had already pulled a rabbit out of the hat by saving Palace from the drop after a disastrous start to the campaign under Ian Holloway. Five wins on the spin across March and April had made sure of a second straight season in the Premier League, and it seemed one more magic act was too much to ask.

The Reds had journeyed south for their final away trip of the campaign with the title still within reach.

In Pictures: Remembering Crytanbul

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Though Steven Gerrard's slip against Chelsea had dented their hopes significantly just days earlier, here was a chance to move three points clear of Manchester City, and eat into their superior goal difference.

That was the size of the task facing Liverpool, and they set about doing it assuredly. The shortest man on the pitch, Joe Allen, inexplicably won the aerial battle to head home in the first of a sequence of remarkable events which ultimately left a tearful Luis Suarez in a heap on the Selhurst Park turf at full-time.

Daniel Sturridge doubled the advantage just after the interval before Luis Suarez made it three. After Sturridge's goal, Suarez cut short the celebrations, reminding his team-mates there was an opportunity to make good ground on City's goal difference.

Gayle sparks wild scenes in the Holmesdale Road end with Palace's third
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Palace had shipped just nine at home under Tony Pulis since November, their mairacuous survival built on a solid defence, and rapid counter-attacking football. Home fans had seen just two Palace goals at Selhurst Park in their previous five matches, so three in the final half-hour was surely asking too much of a side who had every right to feel their work for the season was done, and the beach beckoned.

But Palace hadn't gone from Championship relegation candidates to 11th place in the Premier League inside two seasons without summoning the sort of team spirit which would see them pull off one of the more memorable fightbacks in the league's history.

Damien Delaney's deflected effort got the comeback under way, firing a loose ball into Simon Mignolet's top corner via a key touch off Glen Johnson.

Within nine short minutes, Liverpool's entire campaign had unravelled. First Yannick Bolasie spanned the length of the field before teeing up Gayle for hirs first, then Scott Dann's lumped ball forward was gorgeously diverted into the path of Palace's No16 via Glenn Murray's chest. Gayle did the rest to seal an unlikely point, wheeling away in front of a buoyant Palace crowd as the blue side of Manchester joined in their celebrations.

Shell-shocked Liverpool fans look on
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The scene from the away end was one of contrast. "I don't believe it," said one Liverpool fan caught on Sky's cameras as the reality dawned on a shell-shocked, silent fanbase nestled into the far corner of the Arthur Wait Stand. Rodgers stood motionless on the touchline, his face painting a perfect picture of the mood back on Merseyside.

Within moments, #Crystanbul was trending on Twitter as football fans revelled in the parallels with Liverpool's Champions League triumph in 2005. That was Gerrard's finest hour, this week in 2013 was perhaps his rock-bottom.

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