Sarr double for Crystal Palace sends young Liverpool side out of Carabao Cup | Carabao Cup

Crystal Palace haunted Liverpool yet again but that might be the least of Arne Slot’s worries should his decision to field a weakened team in the Carabao Cup fail to pay dividends in the coming days. Aston Villa and Real Madrid are on the Anfield horizon and so is trouble should this slump deepen.

The FA Cup and Community Shield winners eased into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals courtesy of a first-half double from Ismaïla Sarr, Liverpool’s tormentor‑in-chief. The Senegal international made it seven goals in nine appearances against Liverpool – for Palace and Watford – as Oliver Glasner’s team registered their third triumph against Slot’s side in 80 days.

The Liverpool head coach made 10 changes for the fourth-round match but Palace are too streetwise, too assured and too talented to be treated so lightly. A sixth defeat in seven games, the heaviest of Slot’s reign at Anfield, was the almost inevitable outcome for the Premier League champions. A straight red card for the substitute Amara Nallo – his second in two Liverpool appearances – and a clinical third goal from the excellent Yéremy Pino inflicted further punishment on the hosts late on.

Slot’s priority was clearly the visit of Villa in the Premier League on Saturday as he gave the majority of the senior squad the night off and more time preparing on the training ground. The risk was not so much in the starting lineup, a typical mix for this stage of the competition of youth and experience, but in having no insurance policies on the bench whatsoever.

Nine members of the squad featured for the under-21s on Sunday in the mini-derby defeat of Everton. Nine was also the sum total of first-team appearances among the nine substitutes. Glasner went stronger, making five changes to the team beaten by Arsenal on Sunday.

In fairness to Slot and his makeshift selection there was little between the teams for 30 minutes and, in the 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, Liverpool had one of the most enterprising players on display. Ngumoha went close with one curling effort and created Liverpool’s best opening of the first half when slipping in Federico Chiesa. From a tight angle, the Italy forward’s low shot was saved by the legs of Walter Benítez.

“I was not pleased with the first 15 minutes, the players were still in their hotel beds,” Glasner said. Once Palace awoke, however, their greater composure on the ball and experience told. Once Sarr beat Freddie Woodman for the first time, the Palace fan and former academy player making his Liverpool debut in place of the rested Giorgi Mamardashvili, the home side had no answers.

Palace struck twice in quick succession before the interval. Both goals stemmed from Daichi Kamada passes down the centre of the pitch. The midfielder’s first incisive ball found Daniel Muñoz inside the area. His heavy touch rebounded off Joe Gomez to the unmarked Sarr, who swept his finish inside Woodman’s left-hand post under no pressure.

Four minutes later Kamada put Liverpool under pressure again with a first-time pass into Sarr. The Senegal international flicked a layoff into Pino and darted into the penalty area. Pino found his run brilliantly, dissecting the Liverpool defence with a disguised pass, giving Sarr time and space to again beat Woodman with ease.

Glasner said of Sarr: “He is progressing massively in terms of scoring. Our style suits him and when he has more space it is what he needs in a game like this.”

The Palace manager’s half-time introduction of Jean-Philippe Mateta for Eddie Nketiah almost rubbed Liverpool’s noses in the fact there would be no cavalry arriving from their bench. The visitors comfortably took the sting out of Liverpool’s threat, just as they did in the first half. Mateta twice had a clear run at the home defence but his shot was charged down on both occasions.

Liverpool’s trying night deteriorated in the closing stages. Nallo, who was dismissed four minutes into his debut against PSV Eindhoven last season for denying a goalscoring opportunity, received a straight red for an identical offence when hauling down Justin Devenny, on as a Palace substitute. The young defender understandably buried his face in his shirt after lasting 12 minutes of his second appearance for the club.

Pino applied the finishing touch when scoring his first Palace goal with a clinical strike into the bottom corner. There is no respite for Slot.