Crystal Palace’s Scott Dann rises highest to down Liverpool

“You must be sick of us,” the Crystal Palace fans sang, and Liverpool could only concur. Alan Pardew’s team inflicted the first defeat of the Jürgen Klopp era with their third consecutive Premier League victory over the men from Anfield. One month into the job and Klopp is au fait with Liverpool’s problem club.

Goals from the excellent Yannick Bolasie and Scott Dann, a former Anfield season-ticket holder, gave Palace their latest Merseyside triumph. Pardew has now been involved in all three of Palace’s league wins at Anfield, as a player in 1991 and twice as a manager in 2015, and Liverpool again struggled against his enterprising tactics. Klopp was dismayed by both the outcome and the number of early leavers after Dann scored in the 82nd minute.

The former Borussia Dortmund coach had a point; this was an absorbing contest and Christian Benteke squandered several chances, but the visitors’ defence and counter-attacking play were outstanding. It was the perfect combination for an eye-catching away win.

“We made a conscious decision to take the game to Liverpool,” said Pardew, who had promised his players an extra day off this week in the event of victory. “I said to the players that the problem with this team is it doesn’t trust how good it can be. We proved that when we backed off and allowed Liverpool to dominate but once we went toe-to-toe with them we held our own. It is difficult to do that at these big arenas like Liverpool and Manchester United. In the last two games we have defended brilliantly and it has got us four massive points against two big clubs.”

Steven Gerrard was in the crowd for the first time since departing for Los Angeles and must have had flashbacks to his last appearance at Anfield. Palace started in the same dominant fashion that ruined his Liverpool farewell in May, with Pardew’s deployment of Bolasie alongside Bakary Sako in attack unnerving the home defence.

Bolasie, outstanding in Palace’s 3-1 win last season, once again troubled Liverpool with his pace and touch. Only after the Congo international had given the visitors a deserved lead did Klopp’s team find the urgency, accuracy and energy demanded. They could not sustain it and a potentially serious knee injury to Mamadou Sakho compounded the new manager’s misery. “I would rather lose 4-1 and keep him in the team,” said Klopp about the France defender, who will have a scan on Monday.

Palace punished several defensive lapses from Liverpool in opening the scoring. Sako rode a weak challenge from Alberto Moreno to release Wilfried Zaha down the right. Emre Can made a hash of clearing Zaha’s low cross, Bolasie reacted quicker to the loose ball than Lucas Leiva, captain for the day in the absence of the injured Jordan Henderson and James Milner, and beat Simon Mignolet with an unstoppable finish from 10 yards.

Liverpool looked like a team that had made a 5,000-mile round trip to Kazan in midweek but the breakthrough woke them from their lethargy. Jordon Ibe and Nathaniel Clyne began to dominate the right wing, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana found space behind Palace’s midfield shield and the visitors struggled to break in numbers.

Benteke forced Wayne Hennessey into his first save of the game with a textbook header from Ibe’s corner and wasted a good chance from Lallana’s inviting pass. The equaliser arrived from an excellent team move that sent Klopp high-fiving into the supporters behind his dugout. Ibe released Clyne on the right of the penalty area, Lallana flicked the full-back’s cross towards the far post and, just as he did at Stamford Bridge last weekend, Coutinho brought Liverpool level with an emphatic shot beyond Hennessey.

An open game continued to flow and both sides had cause to regret their finishing in the second half. Benteke, who struggled throughout, shot over from Coutinho’s through ball, headed over from Moreno’s cross and over-elaborated inside the area when put clear by the Brazilian. Sako wasted a better opening for Palace, hitting the side netting from six yards after Bolasie’s break and cross from the right had left the striker with only Mignolet to beat.

Klopp replaced the poor Can with Roberto Firmino and switched to a 4-1-4-1 formation but the changes prompted an improvement only from Palace, who retook the lead with eight minutes remaining. Liverpool fan Dann towered over Firmino to head Yohan Cabaye’s corner goalwards, Mignolet parried the effort but straight back to the defender who steered his second header into the top corner. “Scott had about 15 family members here today,” said Pardew. “I think he has been really underestimated throughout his career but now I manage him I realise how good he is. He was superb in everything he did.”

Ross Barkley shines as England beat Estonia in Euro 2016 qualifying

There is only one small thing that can be held against Ross Barkley after his contribution to England’s latest win and it is that Estonia were obliging opponents for a man desperate to show it is time he is turned into a mandatory first-team pick. All the same, Barkley must have done enough here to make it difficult in the extreme for Roy Hodgson to leave him out. It was his finest night in England’s colours and when Barkley plays with this freedom and exuberance it is easy to see why Hodgson sees flashes of Paul Gascoigne in the Everton player.

Barkley was outstanding, thrilling an impressively large Wembley crowd, and the pass to set up Theo Walcott for England’s first goal – a diagonal 15-yard nutmeg through a congested penalty area – was of that rare variety when it felt like the pot of superlatives might run dry. Suffice to say it was an extraordinary piece of individual brilliance, taking out five defenders with one piece of vision and high skill. Not everything Barkley tried came off but he can be forgiven the odd lapse when he is capable of conjuring up these moments of brilliance and it was exhilarating to see the way he took his chance, as if absolutely determined to show he deserved to be in this team

Twice in the second half he came close to scoring a spectacular goal, on each occasion evading two defenders with that wonderful balance and body movement, before leaving the pitch late on for Dele Alli to make his senior debut. By then England had scored a second goal, created by the substitute Jamie Vardy and turned in by Raheem Sterling, and Hodgson’s team have now won all nine of their qualifiers. They are the only team in the entire process with an immaculate record and a 10th is likely when they wrap everything up in Lithuania on Monday.

Hodgson’s plan in Vilnius is to play a more experimental side, featuring Jack Butland in goal and Jonjo Shelvey in midfield with Phil Jones and Phil Jagielka returning in defence, and five players – Wayne Rooney, James Milner, Michael Carrick, Gary Cahill and Joe Hart – returning to their clubs. Barkley was deployed here in a withdrawn, slightly left-sided position rather than the more advanced No 10 role where he has excelled for Everton this season and Hodgson said that would continue.

Barkley’s involvement always give England a more exciting feel and his contribution was also a reminder that a perfectly executed pass can be every bit as beautiful as a shot into the top corner or a mazy, dribbling run through the opposition defence. It is difficult to remember a more exquisitely delivered nutmeg, or certainly one that doubles up as a defence-splitting through-ball, and perhaps the most impressive part was that when he spotted the chance to go between Karol Mets’s legs it was more than just one-upmanship that compelled him to find the gap.

Barkley played the ball with equal measures of speed and accuracy and suddenly Walcott was six yards from goal with time to control the pass and side-foot his shot inside the far post. It was a wonderful goal and Hodgson, one imagines, will forgive Barkley for the stray pass across midfield earlier in the match, giving the ball straight to an Estonian attacker. Barkley will always be a risk-taker but amid all the acclaim he does need to be aware that, against a better team, that form of carelessness could have left his team in danger.

England had been laboured for much of the first half and there was a slow feel to the game once the home team could not make the most of their early superiority. Perhaps that was just inevitable given that England had qualified for the tournament, chosen their Euro 2016 hotel and arranged most of their warm-up matches while there were still three qualifying games to go. It did, however, make it a prosaic spectacle at times for a crowd that could not even get enthused enough to arrange a proper Mexican wave.

Walcott did at least show signs that he wanted to make something happen, including an early volley that brought a flying save from the goalkeeper, Mihkel Aksalu, and a deflected shot into the side-netting after Adam Lallana’s flick. Overall, though, it was an undistinguished first-half performance and there were even fleeting moments when Estonia abandoned their ultra-cautious approach to break forward. It would be an exaggeration to say Hart’s goal was seriously threatened but it did take an improvised flick from Chris Smalling to turn Konstantin Vassiljev’s left-wing cross behind for a corner.

Estonia quickly settled back into conservatism during the second half, creating little of note and making it difficult to assess the performance of England’s defence. Hodgson’s team were in complete control despite holding only a one-goal lead and Barkley, as Hodgson said, was “strutting his stuff”. One driving run through midfield took the 21-year-old from the centre circle all the way into the penalty area before he was halted. A left-foot shot flashed just wide, then a right-footed effort drew another save from Aksalu.

It was not until the 85th minute, however that England made certain of the victory. Harry Kane, who worked hard in place of the injured Rooney without having one of his better games, flicked on a long goal-kick, Vardy was given the benefit of the doubt after nudging Taijo Teniste to the ground and, running in from the left, squared the ball for Sterling to score from close range.

Lionel Messi scores twice against Levante to keep Barcelona perfect

Lionel Messi celebrates scoring from the penalty spot in Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Levante. Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters

Lionel Messi scored one penalty and missed another as his double helped Barcelona sweep aside Levante in the second half in a 4-1 victory that maintained their perfect La Liga start.

Last season’s treble winners lead the standings with 12 points ahead of three teams, including arch-rivals Real Madrid, on 10.

The defender Marc Bartra showed composure to open the scoring by converting a Messi cross after 50 minutes with Barça having been frustrated in the first half by a well-organised Levante side.

After the game opened up Neymar finished clinically after 55 minutes and won a penalty on the hour which was converted by Messi.

At the other end, the Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen flapped at a cross that allowed Victor Casadesús to slot home after 65 minutes.

Messi blazed a second penalty over the bar after he was fouled but the Argentine did score again with a drive from the edge of the area a minute from time.

Graziano Pellè leads Italy nearer Euro 2016 with winner against Malta

Italy needed 69 minutes to break down a stubborn, tenacious Malta before Graziano Pellè struck to give them a 1-0 win in their Euro 2016 qualifier.

Graziano Pellè celebrates after scoring in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Malta. Photograph: Giampiero Sposito/Reuters

Italy, without a win in their previous four matches, struggled to find a way through a massed Maltese defence in front of a sparse crowd at the Artemio Franchi stadium.

The win took them top of Group H, with 15 points from seven games, one more than Croatia, who drew 0-0 in Azerbaijan earlier and who were docked a point this summer, pending an appeal.

Pellè, who scored the only goal when Italy won by the same score in Malta earlier in the group, was in the thick of the action for Italy as he had a shot deflected over the crossbar and headed over from a corner early on.

Malta, bottom of the group with one point, nearly took a sensational lead just before the half-hour when Alfred Effiong curled a shot just wide of Gianluigi Buffon’s far post.

As Italy continued to press forward, Pellè headed wide from an Andrea Pirlo free-kick and then the Malta goalkeeper Andrew Hogg did well to parry away Andrea Bertolacci’s deflected shot. Eder had Italy’s best first-half effort when his low effort went just wide of the post after a run from midfield.

Malta continued to defend tenaciously after half-time and Italy struggled to create openings, despite their overwhelming dominance.

Manolo Gabbiadini was agonisingly close to the breakthrough when he curled a 20-yard effort against the crossbar in the 59th minute and Malta finally capitulated 10 minutes later. Antonio Candreva sent over a cross from the right, Hogg was distracted by Marco Parolo at the near post and Pellè forced the ball in from close range.

Even after the goal, Malta continued to defend doggedly and Hogg did well turn away an awkward shot by Parolo.

Manchester United make move to sign Sadio Mané from Southampton

Manchester United have made a surprise inquiry for Southampton’s Sadio Mané, with Louis van Gaal wanting the 23-year-old to strengthen his forward line.

United had proposed to buy Pedro from Barcelona but the deal broke down, with Van Gaal instructing Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman, to ask Saints about Mané. Pedro is now set to join Chelsea.

Sadio Mané, the subject of Manchester United interest. Photograph: James Marsh/BPI/Rex Shutterstock

The west London club came close to signing Pedro in January and continued to pursue the forward at the start of the summer window before it seemed Pedro had decided he preferred United.

While United insist that it was Van Gaal who decided against triggering Pedro’s £21.2m release clause, as reported by the Guardian last Friday, the 28-year-old had reservations regarding Van Gaal’s managerial style. Pedro is good friends with Víctor Valdés, with whom the Dutchman has fallen out.

Last season Mané caught the eye by scoring the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history, doing so in the 6-1 defeat of Aston Villa in May. The Senegalese scored 10 goals for Saints after arriving from Red Bull Salzburg on transfer deadline day last September.

Ronald Koeman, the Southampton coach, sanctioned an £11.8m fee for Mané so United can be expected to have made an intial bid in the region of £15m for him. Mané has 22 Senegal caps and played at the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea in January.