Liverpool slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time in five years this afternoon courtesy of a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

The visitors made a perfect start to the match as Rickie Lambert opened his account for the club inside 90 seconds, but Dwight Gayle levelled things up 15 minutes later.

Joe Ledley then gave his side the lead with 12 minutes remaining following good work from Yannick Bolasie, while Mile Jedinak clinched the victory with a precise free kick moments later.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at whether Palace deserved the three points that lift them out of the relegation zone.

Match statistics

Crystal Palace
Shots: 15
On target: 5
Possession: 36%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 21

Liverpool
Shots: 12
On target: 1
Possession: 64%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 10

Was the result fair?

The statistics tell the story of this match fairly accurately. Liverpool controlled possession and dictated the tempo of the game for long periods, but Palace were never overrun and always looked capable of causing problems on the break. It was a very even encounter overall, until Palace's quickfire double in the final 15 minutes.

While the visitors did see plenty of the ball, they failed to really do anything with it, and Palace used their 36% possession far more effectively. The hosts looked the more dangerous of the two sides, despite only being able to attack in flashes when they finally won the ball back from Liverpool.

A draw certainly would not have flattered Liverpool, and a two-goal losing margin is harsh on Brendan Rodgers's side as it was a very even game for the most part. However, the Reds certainly did not do enough to win the match and cannot have too many complaints at being caught out by a Palace side that more than held their own throughout.

Crystal Palace's performance

Coming into this match on the back of five games without a win, Palace fans must have been fearing the worst when they conceded within two minutes. However, the Eagles showed the sort of fight and determination that made them such a success under Tony Pulis to respond well and give as good as they got against Liverpool.

They were forced to chase the ball for much of the match as the visitors bossed possession, but that suited them just fine as it gave them the chance to break. Their counter-attacks were a potent weapon, and something the visitors failed to adequately deal with all game. Defensively Palace were solid too, and that was the main basis of their victory today.

Questions were raised about how they would respond having dropped into the bottom three after results went against them yesterday, but Neil Warnock will be delighted with his players this afternoon. They were more than a match for Liverpool and picked up a huge victory which helps to alleviate the pressure brought on by their recent winless streak.

Liverpool's performance

The image of Brendan Rodgers soaked to the bone in the dugout was a textbook example of pathetic fallacy. A day that started so brightly for Liverpool, with Lambert's early opener, soon turned to misery as they fell to their sixth league defeat of the season - the same number that they suffered in the whole of the last campaign.

They failed to build on such a promising start as Palace responded well, with neither side able to gain control of the match. Liverpool did see far more of the ball than their hosts, but all of that came in front of the Palace defence. The fact that they only managed one shot on target, which was the goal, is a damning statistic considering that they had 64% possession and 12 efforts overall.

Palace's two goals may take away from the fact that this was not a terrible performance from the visitors. They looked more balanced with Lambert up front and played some decent stuff at times, but it is still nowhere near good enough. They need to improve immeasurably if they are to be in a Champions League place come May, and failure to do that sooner rather than later could see Rodgers come under pressure.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Yannick Bolasie: Palace's main threat this afternoon was the counter-attack, and the best exponent of that was Bolasie, who caused the Liverpool defence all sorts of problems. His low drive led to Gayle's goal after it came back off the post, while he showed a sublime piece of skill before setting up Ledley for Palace's second. His pace and trickery kept the defence busy all game, and they could not cope with him at times. A superb performance from the winger.

Biggest gaffe

This one has to go to Javi Manquillo, who had a fine chance to restore Liverpool's lead with just under 20 minutes remaining following good work from Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling. However, as the ball arrived to him in space inside the box, the young full-back dragged his shot all the way out for a throw-in when he should have at least hit the target.

Referee performance

Jonathan Moss had a good game today, getting the vast majority of the big decisions right. There was some debate over the free kick which led to Jedinak's goal, however, with both Martin Skrtel and Gayle having a hold of each other's shirts. Skrtel was the man penalised, and Jedinak did the rest to wrap up the win.

What next?

Crystal Palace: Palace will look to build on this result when they travel to the Liberty Stadium to take on Swansea City on Saturday.

Liverpool: Liverpool, meanwhile, face a crucial Champions League clash against Ludogorets Razgrad in Bulgaria on Wednesday night.