Crystal Palace 3-1 Liverpool

• Liverpool without a win in five
• Reds now 18 points behind leaders Chelsea
• I take full responsibility - Rodgers
• Eagles made their own luck - Warnock

Liverpool endured another miserable trip to Crystal Palace as two late goals gave the south London club their third win of the season.

But Dwight Gayle equalised after Yannick Bolasie's shot came off a post.

Joe Ledley then slotted Palace in front before Mile Jedinak converted a free-kick from 25 yards.

The look on the faces of the Liverpool players after the third goal was reminiscent of that night in May when they threw away a 3-0 goal lead, a result which effectively ended their title hopes.

But while that side were applauded for their heroics of last season, few are eulogising about this current incarnation.

They have now lost three consecutive league matches and have only won once in five in the league. They are 18 points behind leaders Chelsea, and at the moment Europe, never mind the title, seems to be a distant dream.

Questions will be asked, such as: do Liverpool need to buy a striker in January? Should manager Brendan Rodgers drop Steven Gerrard? And what has happened to the form of Raheem Sterling?

Gerrard was wayward with his shooting and failed to impose any sort of influence in midfield, while Sterling, who appealed for a penalty, appears to have lost the sharpness he displayed at the start of the season.

The match could not have started any better for the Reds when striker Lambert, in for the injured Mario Balotelli, scored his first goal for the club when he controlled a ball from Lallana and finished calmly.

But they held on to the lead for only 16 minutes, when Gayle, who twice scored in that 3-3 draw, tapped in after fierce strike from the exceptional Bolasie cannoned off a post.

The match settled down into a more of a rhythm, with Liverpool having the lion's share of possession and Palace trying to catch them on the counter.

But apart from the goal, the visitors failed to hit the target again. And the only other real chance for the Reds was when Lambert headed over at the far post.

Palace were more direct and it paid dividends.

Their second goal resulted from a marvellous piece of skill on the right from Bolasie, who turned two markers before pulling back the ball for Ledley to score.

And Palace completed a splendid win eight minutes from time when Australia midfielder Jedinak curled a superb free-kick beyond the reach of Simon Mignolet.

The win pulls the Eagles out of the bottom three, but no doubt manager Neil Warnock would have been more pleased with the manner in which they managed it.