Monday's news conference was the first opportunity to ask Xabi Alonso why he had not ended up managing his former club Liverpool. Alonso, who won an array of honours as a player at Liverpool, including the Champions League in 2005,

Liverpool always thought of themselves as different to other clubs and the club they once considered themselves most different from was Chelsea. They had The Kop, Chelsea had hospitality packages. Liverpool had Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard,

Skipper Steven Gerrard levelled three minutes later from 20 yards for his 50th goal for Liverpool, but German midfielder Marco Reich had the final say after 66 minutes. Hughes again turned provider for Reich who shot home as Palace reached the last 16 after being relegated from the top flight last season.