Crystal Palace have failed to win any of their seven home games in the WSL
Crystal Palace's hopes of avoiding relegation from the Women's Super League were dented by Sunday's home defeat by Liverpool.
Jasmine Matthews' first-half strike was enough to give Amber Whiteley a winning start to her second stint as Liverpool interim manager, following Matt Beard's departure on Thursday.
Palace, who are bottom of the table with just six points from 15 matches, also had a new face in the dugout in Leif Smerud, who replaced Laura Kaminski on Friday.
Liverpool should have gone ahead after four minutes but Marie-Therese Hobinger could only head wide when left completely unmarked at the far post.
Matthews made no such mistake six minutes later, as she rifled the ball past Shae Yanez in the Palace goal after the hosts failed to clear a corner.
Palace waited until the stroke of half-time to threaten the visitors, with Rachael Laws producing a fine save with her legs to deny Abbie Larkin's rifled effort.
Cornelia Kapocs had a clear chance to double Liverpool's advantage shortly after the break, but could only fire over the crossbar on the stretch with the goal gaping.
My Cato saw her goal-bound effort blocked as Palace pushed for a leveller, before the Swedish midfielder almost turned into her own net while attempting to clear a ball across the face of goal.
Palace continued to push with Cato forcing Laws into a smart double save, but were unable to end their wait for a second win in the WSL, and remain four points from safety at the bottom of the table.
Victory moves Liverpool up to sixth with 18 points after 15 games, and will not have done Whiteley's hopes of being appointed manager on a permanent basis any harm.
Positives for both new coaches
Liverpool interim boss Whiteley made five changes to the side that lost 4-0 at Manchester City a fortnight ago, and was rewarded with a deserved, if slightly unconvincing, victory.
Before kick-off Liverpool had the worst conversion rate in the WSL (8.3%), so while Palace have the worst defence - now 39 goals conceded in 15 games - Sunday's game was never going to be a goal-fest.
The visitors had 20 shots on the Palace goal, but came away with one goal to show for their efforts.
If Whiteley is serious in her ambition to take on the managerial vacancy permanently, then she needs to get her strikers converting more of their chances.
It may well be new Palace boss Smerud who takes the most encouragement despite being on the losing side.
His Palace side were much more organised in defence and offered genuine threat in attack, so may have claimed a point on another day.
With Aston Villa losing to Everton on Sunday, Smerud's task remains the same: close the four-point gap and avoid relegation. The Norwegian coach has seven games to do it, three of which are against sides in the bottom five.
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