There was a look of disbelief on Mohamed Salah's face as he smiled wryly beneath the Anfield sun - surely it couldn't end like this.

For a moment, it was all so familiar. With Liverpool cruising at 2-0 against Crystal Palace, Salah cut in from the right with a trademark run before delivering a delicate back heel to Dominik Szoboszlai inside the penalty area.

But then there was a hush as supporters began to realise what was unfolding. Salah, reluctantly sinking to the turf and clutching his left hamstring, stared into the cloudless blue sky knowing his third-to-last Anfield appearance was over - and with it perhaps his Liverpool career.

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Highlights from the Premier League match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace.

Anfield rose to applaud Salah and he returned the praise, clapping all four sides and savouring the moment as he departed the pitch. Four hundred and thirty-nine appearances and 257 goals, and this is how it ends?

"We don't know," hoped head coach Arne Slot.

Tim Sherwood summed up the sense of inevitability on Soccer Saturday. "This could be the end of him in a Liverpool shirt," he said. "What a sad end."

Salah has already known for weeks that his time at Liverpool would end on May 24, after agreeing to bring his nine-year stay to an early close. Few would have imagined the final chapter unfolding like this, forced off not on his own terms.

"If we were 6-0 up and I take him out two minutes before the end, he's still like 'I could have scored two more'," said Slot.

"For Mo to leave the pitch, that tells you something, but we have to wait and see how bad it is."

Image: Arne Slot speaks with Mohamed Salah after the Liverpool winger leaves the game with an injury

It has been a difficult season for Salah, one marked by a public fallout with Slot and a campaign that never gathered momentum. Liverpool have failed to mount a serious title challenge or add silverware, and Salah's numbers have reflected that decline.

His 21 goal contributions represent his lowest return at the club, a stark contrast to the extraordinary 34 goals and 23 assists he delivered just last season.

Salah's injury also sums up Liverpool's misfortune. "It's the story of our season," said Slot.

Liverpool host Chelsea on May 9 after their visit to Manchester United on May 3, live on Sky Sports, before what should be Salah's big farewell against Brentford on the final day of the season. He faces a race against time.

"Mo has taken such good care of his body that he will have the minimum time required to recover from an injury and let's hope for the best that he's available for the last part," added Slot.

But if he is not able to raid down the right wing one last time at Anfield, then his Liverpool career will feel oddly incomplete.

And for a player who made a habit of writing his own endings, it would be one he never got to finish.

Liverpool's remaining fixtures

Sunday May 3: Man Utd (a) - kick-off 3.30pm, live on Sky Sports

Satruday May 9: Chelsea (h) - kick-off 12.30pm

Sunday May 17: Aston Villa (a) - kick-off 3pm

Sunday May 24: Brentford (h) - kick-off 4pm

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Highlights from the Premier League match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace.

Liverpool are up to fourth in the Premier League after earning a 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace, but Mohamed Salah may have played his final game for the club.

Alexander Isak scored his first goal since December and Andy Robertson doubled their first-half lead before Palace controversially pulled one back when Daniel Munoz lifted the ball over stricken goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, but Florian Wirtz struck in stoppage time to secure the points.

However, Salah, who announced he would be ending his nine-year stay at the club this summer, pulled up just before the hour mark after feeling his left hamstring, casting doubt over whether he will feature in the remaining four matches.

"The prognosis is too early to say," said Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on Salah's injury. "We all know Mo, how hard it is for him to leave the pitch. If we were 6-0 and I take him out two minutes before the end, he's still like 'I could have scored two more'.

"For Mo to leave the pitch, that tells you something, but we have to wait and see how bad it is."

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Mohamed Salah pulled up feeling his left hamstring, casting doubt over whether he will feature in the remaining four matches for Liverpool.

Slot's side were still able to take full advantage of Aston Villa's defeat at Fulham on Saturday lunchtime, moving above them on goal difference and level with Manchester United, while building an eight-point lead over sixth-placed Brighton.

Anfield was treated to an incident-filled afternoon which began with thousands of supporters holding up yellow cards in protest against planned ticket price increases, before their side had a penalty overturned.

Salah burst through on goal and went down under Brennan Johnson's sliding challenge, with referee Andy Madley pointing to the spot. Johnson had got a touch on the ball and Madley reversed his decision after a VAR check.

Image: Alexander Isak celebrates after opening the scoring

Liverpool weren't to be denied for long as Isak controlled Alexis Mac Allister's shot that was heading wide, sending a bouncing shot over goalkeeper Dean Henderson into the right corner for his first Premier League goal at Anfield.

Woodman, making his first start and standing in for the injured Giorgi Mamardashvili and Alisson, was faultless and denied Jean-Philippe Mateta twice in a matter of minutes. The second stop from a close-range header launched a Liverpool counter-attack which ended with Curtis Jones sliding in Robertson, who finished expertly on one of his final appearances at Anfield.

Image: Andy Robertson celebrates after scoring Liverpool's second goal

Palace couldn't find a way past Woodman in the first half with Maxence Lacroix's downwards header kept out by a mixture of Woodman and the right post.

The second half was defined by injuries. Salah pulled up at the end of a trademark run inside and was given a big ovation by the Anfield crowd. Woodman then also appeared to be hurt, jarring his knee when saving from Sarr before Munoz lobbed the ball over his head and into the net.

The third-choice goalkeeper was able to continue and was lucky not to concede an equaliser when substitute Jorgen Strand Larsen's shot stayed out after hitting the inside of the left post before Wirtz made sure of the result by smashing in off the woodwork late on.

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Crystal Palace's Daniel Munoz scores with Liverpool's Freddie Woodman down injured as play continued.

Player ratings

Liverpool: Woodman (8); Szoboszlai (7), Konate (7), Van Dijk (7), Robertson (9); Mac Allister (7), Jones (7); Salah (6), Wirtz (7), Gakpo (6); Isak (7).

Subs: Frimpong (6), Gravenberch (6), Gomez (n/a), Kerkez (n/a).

Crystal Palace: Henderson (6); Richards (6), Lacroix (6), Canvot (7); Munoz (7), Wharton (7), Kamada (7), Mitchell (5); Johnson (6), Mateta (6), Sarr (6).

Subs: Sosa (6), Pino (7), Strand Larsen (6)

Player of the Match: Andy Robertson

Robertson: Munoz didn't see injured Woodman

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson:

"To be fair to the boy (Munoz), I was the one closest to him and I don't think he looked up until he hit the ball. I think he looked up when Freddie was back on his feet and then he went back down. In a game like this, you just hope it doesn't punish you because it could have done, it could have been 2-2 just after.

"I don't think anyone's to blame, it's part of football."

Woodman: I didn't know whether to stay down

Liverpool goalkeeper Freddie Woodman:

"The grass was really dry and my knee got stuck in the ground. I felt pain on the inside of my knee. I was unsure what to do really. I didn't know whether to get up and hobble towards the goal or stay down.

"It's a bit of an unclear moment if the goalkeeper goes down. I thought naturally the game stops, but luckily it didn't punish us in the end."

Slot: Referee should have stopped game for Woodman injury

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot:

"Because of the [Palace] goal, it became a lot more nervy and I don't think we deserved to concede that goal in that fashion. But Palace were a lot more in the game than the 2-0 lead showed so it wasn't a complete surprise to me they could score in the second half.

"The way we conceded was not as expected. Is there a game we've played where there isn't a talking point about a referee's decision?

"The amount of times I've played a game when we've been in a promising position and a player is on the floor and the referee has blown his whistle, I cannot even count, and for simulation.

"We've showed we are a fair team. We don't go to the floor if nothing is wrong. That happened against Man Utd when Macca (Mac Allister) was on the floor and Michael Oliver kept on playing and we conceded a goal. Macca had five or six stitches afterwards.

"I find it hard that referees don't go into the game knowing we are not a team that pretends we are injured. If we're on the floor something serious has happened. I don't blame them (Palace). The referee should stop the game."

Glasner: We'd have given Liverpool a goal

Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner on Daniel Munoz goal:

"We discussed with the fourth official, with Arne Slot and (Virgil) van Dijk (what to do). We had watched it back.

"The keeper gets up. If he doesn't and he has to be subbed then they could have definitely scored in our goal because then it would have been a serious injury."

"The ball goes to Daniel Munoz and the keeper raises his arm. He didn't really see it or it is the same time," he said.

"The referee has to stop the game if he believes it is a serious injury but you see the keeper ends the game.

"To demand the referee has to stop the game can be very dangerous for the future. It was not so clear but I think it was the right decision in the end."

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