Football Premier League Premier League Liverpool holds off Palace fightback to close gap on Man City Fabinho scored a late penalty to give Liverpool a victory that lifted it to 48 points, nine behind City, which was held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton. Reuters 23 January, 2022 21:41 IST Liverpool's Fabinho (No.3) celebrates scoring its third goal with Jordan Henderson, Takumi Minamino and Roberto Firmino. - REUTERS Reuters 23 January, 2022 21:41 IST Liverpool had to withstand a spirited second-half fightback from Crystal Palace before emerging with a 3-1 win on Sunday to close the gap on Premier League leader Manchester City to nine points.Virgil Van Dijk gave Liverpool an early lead with a powerful header from a corner, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain added a second in the 32nd minute, controlling a superb cross-field pass from Andy Robertson before thumping the ball home.READ: ISL 2021-22: Sunil Chhetri becomes joint top-scorer in ISL history, equals Corominas' recordPalace pulled one back 10 minutes into the second half when Jeffrey's Schlupp's pass to Jean-Philippe Mateta sliced open the Liverpool defence, and he squared the ball for Odsonne Edouard to fire into an empty net.Palace poured forward looking for an equaliser but Fabinho scored a late penalty to give Liverpool a victory that lifted it to 48 points, nine behind City, which was held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton on Saturday. Palace is 13th on 24 points. Read more stories on Premier League. For more updates, follow Sportstar on :