Milan Baros' hat-trick was the order of the day as Liverpool sneaked victory in a five-goal thriller against Palace at Anfield.
The home side were keen to bounce back after the shocking home defeat against Birmingham last week.
Rafa Benitez made five changes from the midweek Carling Cup win against Middlesbrough, bringing back Luis Garcia, Chris Kirkland, Harry Kewell, Baros and Xabi Alonso.
The two sides last met in February 2003, with Liverpool going down 2-0, a result they did not want to repeat here.
Both sides were evenly matched in the opening minutes. The Palace defence were keen to show the Reds that they meant business but their over-enthusiasm resulted in striker Baros being fouled three times in as many minutes.
Kirkland and Gabor Kiraly were forced to work hard as shots were fired towards both goals.
The home side eventually broke the deadlock when Baros won a dubious penalty after he was brought down in the 22nd minute by Mikele Leigertwood and got up to slot home the spot-kick himself.
The visitors fought back but the home side's appeals for a second penalty minutes later after Baros claimed Emmerson Boyce had handled the ball were ignored by referee Dowd.
Liverpool's confidence grew as the game progressed as they piled on the pressure.
Despite the increased work-load, Palace snatched a 43rd minute goal courtesy of Ben Watson's corner that was buried into the top right-hand corner of the home side's net by Joonas Kolkka.
However, Iain Dowie's joy was short-lived. Less than a minute later, Kolkka was booked and Alonso's free-kick was turned home by Baros.
Liverpool began the second half with the same flair and style as they had produced in the first.
Czech star Baros continued to push forward through the sloppy Palace defence forcing Kiraly to tip a strike from John Arne Riise over his crossbar.
Palace quickly bounced back though, levelling the scores again courtesy of a second Kolkka strike after 52 minutes.
Baros missed yet another opportunity to secure his hat-trick when his header towards an empty Palace goal fell yards wide of the right-hand post.
It seemed inevitable that the Reds would snatch a winner and so it proved just before the final whistle when they were gifted another dubious penalty.
Substitute Tom Soares gave the ball away to Baros who fell to his knees a little too quickly when tackled by Danny Granville.
The 23-year-old then sealed Palace's fate with his third goal and Dowie's men will now have to fight even harder to ensure their Premiership survival.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Milan Baros (Liverpool) – Grabbed a hat-trick and could have scored five with more composure but was a constant thorn in the Palace defence.