Rio Ferdinand and Peter Crouch believe Jordan Ayew should NOT have been sent off for Crystal Palace in their 2-1 defeat to Liverpool – with the former Reds striker admitting the dismissal was a ‘massive factor’ in Jurgen Klopp’s side’s turnaround

• Jordan Ayew was shown a second yellow card for a soft tackle on Harvey Elliot
• Liverpool took full advantage of their numerical advantage with two late goals
• It will do Arsenal no harm at all to have Arteta out of sight at Villa Park – It’s All Kicking Off

Rio Ferdinand and Peter Crouch were united in their belief that Jordan Ayew should not have received a second yellow card in Liverpool’s dramatic late win over Crystal Palace. 

The pendulum of the tie swung in favour of Jurgen Klopp’s side after the Ghanaian’s controversial 75th-minte sending off, with the Reds grabbing the win after two late goals from Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliot. 

Ayew had received an equally iniquitous booking earlier on in the half for blocking a Liverpool free-kick and was given his marching orders after stopping an attack. 

Former Reds striker Crouch admitted that he couldn’t foresee the Liverpool turnaround and disagreed with the dismissal. 

‘You just did not see that coming at all, particularly after the first half performance.’ He said on TNT Sports. ‘Palace grew into the game obviously getting the goal but they dropped deeper and deeper.

Rio Ferdinand (middle) and Peter Crouch (right) disagreed with Andy Madley’s decision to show Jordan Ayew a second yellow card late on in the game

The Palace forward was dismissed after fouling Harvey Elliot near the halfway line at Selhurst Park

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Madley surprised everyone in the ground when he produced a second yellow before showing the Ghanaian a red card

‘You have to say that the red card was a massive factor. I didn’t think it was a red card but Liverpool then capitalised on it.’

His co-pundit Ferdinand was in agreement but was keen to praise Liverpool for their powers of recovery. 

‘I didn’t agree with the red card but you have to say Liverpool are used to doing this. This is becoming a part of their season now, this is becoming a story of their season – coming from behind a winning games.’ He said.

‘There’s resilience in this squad, there’s maturity in this squad, there’s experience but also an ability to score goals at critical points in games.’

Palace had taken the lead just before the how when Jean-Philippe Mateta successfully converted a spot-kick. 

But Ayew’s sending off completely changed the game as Salah grabbed his 200th goal for the club within a minute of his exit. 

Substitute Elliot then produced a moment of magic in the first minute of stoppage time, picking up the ball from deep before rifling in his shot from the edge of the area. 

The win takes Klopp’s side to the top of the Premier League table ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Villa Park on Saturday evening. Palace remain 15th, seven points clear of the relegation zone. 

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

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