The travelling Kop revived an old classic from the 1970s and 2010s as 'Poetry in Motion' was the soundtrack to Liverpool's win at Crystal Palace.

This was hardly William Wordsworth levels of poetry and Liverpool looked far from on song at times but that will not matter a jot to Andoni Iraola who recorded a much-needed victory on the road.

How they desperately needed these three points after back-to-back defeats had left cause for concern heading into the international break.

Goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak were enough to see off a valiant effort from Crystal Palace, who played like a team fighting for their manager even though Pierre Sage looked like a dead man walking.

The biggest illustration of Palace's misfortune was the fact that Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson was the player of the match, the Brazilian having a throwback performance to deny Palace time and again at 0-0, before keeping his side's lead intact in the second half.

Sage now looks set to be given a stuffing six weeks before Christmas and the Frenchman may feel hard done by given this spirited performance that saw his Eagles put up a fight against Liverpool.

Meanwhile Iraola, a man approached to take over at Palace before he joined Liverpool, will go into the second international break knowing his side remain a work-in-progress.

They showed flaws all over the pitch in the first half with a soft underbelly and lack of bite in attack, with none of the attackers seemingly able to step up and take the game by the scruff of its neck.

'Doctor Liverpool will see you now' was a phrase used at times last season where out-of-form teams and under-fire managers would play the Reds and end up with a much-needed win.

At times during a chaotic first half at Selhurst Park, it felt like Pierre Sage would be the latest to benefit from that quirk.

The Frenchman came into this game with his job security under increasing danger, with fans and the Crystal Palace hierarchy unsure of the former Lens' manager.

Yet Palace played like a team fighting for the man in the dugout. They had 10 first-half shots as the Eagles could - and probably should - have taken the lead in the opening 45 minutes.

A limp Liverpool were cut open like a hot knife through butter and needed goalkeeper Alisson to put in his best performance of the season.

It came at a juncture where, for the first time in his Liverpool career, the Brazilian's ability had been called into question by some fans after a number of uncharacteristic mistakes in recent weeks.

But now 34 and in the final year of his contract, Alisson put in a classic performance, probably his best since a trip to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League knockout stages 18 months ago.

Palace's best chance came on 18 minutes when Yeremy Pino rattled the crossbar with a thumping shot from inside the penalty area that the Spaniard really should have done better with. Seconds later he had another chance but his header was tame.

Pino's attacking colleague Daichi Kamada then had a chance to open the scoring for Palace but could only tan the hands of Alisson, the Japan international's shot going for power over placement.

Then Jorgen Strand Larsen thought he had scored only to be caught offside after a deft chip over Alisson. It was the correct decision but added to the feeling that Liverpool were on the ropes, with Quenten Timber also testing the goalkeeper from distance.

But Palace could not make their chances count and were ultimately undone and left to feel sorry for themselves.

A soft free-kick was the cause of the first. Dominik Szoboszlai whipped a cross towards the front post which needed only a glanced header from Mac Allister to divert the ball into the back of the net, leaving Dean Henderson helpless.

Given he is the smallest player in the team, Argentine midfielder Mac Allister is the best in the air – at least in the attacking sense. The former Brighton player ran straight for the Palace fans behind the goal and gave it large to the supporters that were once his rivals.

Liverpool weathered another storm at the start of the second half and then found themselves two up. Barcola, who had been wasteful in the first half, swapped wings at the break and made his first attack count.

The Frenchman put the after-burners on and motored down the pitch before feeding Wirtz, who composed himself and passed into the net for 2-0.

Isak then put maybe the final nail in Sage's coffin late on when he made it three with a calm finish after a breathtaking counter attack led by Victor Munoz and Wirtz, who made an unselfish assist to the Swede.

Palace pulled one back in stoppage time through an Eddie Nketiah penalty after Milos Kerkez committed a careless foul. It felt like it was too little, too late for Sage and Co.

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