March 24 2001

Aki Riihilahti

Palace's new signing, Aki Riihilahti, put in a top performance and grabbed his side's goal, with the help of a Gary Neville deflection, in the 2-1 defeat to England at Anfield. .

Midfielder Riihilahti gave England a big shock when he put the Fins in front after 26 minutes, his third international goal.

From Joonas Kolkka's corner, Riihilahti lost his marker Rio Ferdinand, and his header took a slight deflection off Neville into the back of the net.

Riihilahti, 25, worked hard throughout the game by closing down the England midfield and Palace boss Alan Smith will be pleased with his performance.

Michael Owen equalised for England just before half-time and David Beckham got England's winning goal in the 50th minute.

Palace's other Finnish international, Mikael Forssell, came on as a substitute in the 63 minute as Finland played four up front in a bid to get something from the game.

But England ran out 2-1 winners and move up to second spot in World Cup Group Nine.

Meanwhile, Aleksandrs Kolinko and Andrejs Rubins both played in Latvia's 4-1 loss to Croatia in World Cup Qualifying Group Six.