sport news Jurgen Klopp trust in Rafa Camacho was repaid by last minute tackle on Wilfried ...

An hour after the final whistle and Jurgen Klopp was in a small room, trying to make sense of it all, when he was asked one last question.

Suddenly, Liverpool's manager started celebrating again. It wasn't with the gusto that he greeted the end of a helter-skelter match but, briefly, here he was with a smile plastered all over his face as he punched the air in delight.

The reason for the impromptu reaction soon became apparent. In a game of so many incidents, it was the perfectly-timed tackle from young substitute Rafa Camacho to thwart Wilfried Zaha that so enthused Klopp. Seasons last for nine months but they can be defined in split seconds.

'I told him immediately after the game that he had already made the most important challenge of his life,' said Klopp. 'I'm not sure he really got it - he looked at me like: "What is he talking about?" but it was really massive.'

To give the situation context, Camacho had been hurried on in the final minute following James Milner's red card. The 18-year-old Portuguese, a product of Liverpool's Academy, had never kicked a ball in the Premier League before and, in a high-pressure finale, he found Zaha bearing down on him.

As Zaha danced from side to side in that mesmeric way of his, everyone in the stadium knew the fractional mistiming of a tackle would mean a penalty to Crystal Palace and, in all probability, a 4-4 draw; but Camacho never flinched, his challenge was clean and the ball - and the match - was won.

The incident needed to be emphasised and Klopp's reaction explained its importance. Liverpool might have had two months of being brilliant but it would be disingenuous to suggest this latest 4-3 triumph was a product of cavalier, breathless football.

There were, of course, some wonderful snapshots. The way

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