Crystal Palace earned a spirited point on the road against Matt Beard’s Liverpool as Katie Stengel netted her first goal for the South Londoners. 

The Eagles kicked off with intent, competing well and seeming the more threatening of the two sides. Liverpool looked as though they could cause problems in behind, but Palace had begun very positively. 

A chaotic move in the 14th minute saw Laura Kaminki’s side open the scoring. Indiah-Paige Riley did excellently on the right, creating space to thread the ball through to My Kato. The Swede’s cutback was met by Liverpool’s Lucy Parry, although her half-hearted clearance failed to avert danger. 

The ball pinged around in the box before Annabel Blanchard’s effort was brought down by Katie Stengel. A matter of yards from goal, the American smashed the ball into the back of the gaping net on the second attempt. 

After taking a deserved lead, the Eagles were pretty comfortable at the St Helens Stadium. Liverpool had failed to trouble Shae Yanez in the Palace net. If anything, Palace were looking more likely to double their lead rather than Liverpool fighting back. 

Mille Gejl did excellently in the 36th minute to play an exquisite through ball in behind the Liverpool backline. Blanchard met it in the six-yard box and tried to take it around Rachael Laws - the Reds keeper pulled off a respectable save, albeit the Palace attacker had to do better. 

Just a minute later, Liverpool clawed themselves back into the game. The Reds broke well, forcing a huge save from Yanez. Palace looked like they had cleared the danger, but a silly pass by Josie Green, coupled with a disastrous attempt of a clearance by Riley, gifted Cornelia Kapocs the ball inside the Palace box. It was far too easy for the attacker, Palace’s implosion gave her an abundance of time and space to launch an effort past a helpless Yanez. 

Moments before half time, Stengel should have added her second. Gejl played an intelligent ball over the top of the Liverpool defence. The former Reds striker brought it down but knocked her effort over the crossbar.

Kaminski’s Eagles continued positively in the second half and more than matched the established WSL outfit. Stengel once again went close to putting Palace back ahead with a crucial block denying the forward. 

As the clock raced along, Liverpool upped their performance. Canadian Olivia Smith started to leave her mark on the affair with the pick of the bunch, seeing the attacker strike the woodwork with a right-footed effort from 30 yards. 

Although Liverpool started to push, Palace remained strong defensively while keeping a respectable offensive threat. 

Time ticked and neither side looked like scoring a winner. Palace earned a superb point on the road, extending their unbeaten run away from home to two. The Eagles head into the international break ninth in the WSL with one win from five. 

Lineups 

Liverpool: Laws; Evans, Bonner, Matthews; Parry (Fisk 64), Hobinger, Nagano, Kapocs (Holland 45), Hinds (Clark 45); Enderby (Kiernan 45), Smith. 

Crystal Palace: Yanez; Green, Aspin (Gibbons 66), Veje, Woodham (Weerden 91); Cato (Larkin 90), Potter, Blanchard; Riley, Stengel, Gejl (Hopcroft 77).