Palace enjoyed a dream start to the second half, as Williams’ inswinging corner was met by the towering header of the onrushing Walker-Smith, who turned it home.
Liverpool looked to respond immediately from the restart, with Morrison cutting the ball onto his left foot and curling a delivery into the path of Lambie, whose volley went the wrong side of the post.
The pendulum swung in Liverpool’s favour as Morrison picked out Will Wright at the far post, but Lee stood tall to deny him before Whyte scrambled clear, weathering a spell of pressure from the hosts.
On the hour mark, Dashi drifted inside and flashed a well-struck shot that was blocked.
Moments later, he fed Whyte down the right channel; the wing-back’s strike ricocheted off the outstretched boot of Lucas Pitt and forced a diving save from Pecsi, while Benamar’s acrobatic follow-up sailed over the bar.
A sudden flurry of chances fell Palace’s way as Whyte’s curling delivery was parried, eventually landing at Dashi, whose half-volley was tipped around the post by Pecsi.
Palace made a triple substitution as we entered the final third to try and put the game beyond doubt, and one of the incoming substitutes, Benji Casey, almost made an immediate impact.
Seconds after coming on, he capitalised on a turnover and was sent clear one-on-one with Pecsi, only for the ‘keeper to make the stop. Casey had a second opportunity when Walker-Smith’s long throw was deflected into his path by Umolu, but he miscued over the bar.
On 77 minutes, Joe Gibbard did well to win a penalty after a reckless sliding challenge from Michael Laffey down the right channel. Kaden Rodney stepped up and fired a powerful shot into the right corner, beyond Pecsi’s reach.
