Liverpool have taken a step closer to the Carabao Cup final, beating Fulham in the first leg of their semifinal clash at Anfield on Wednesday by 2-1.
The contest didn’t start too well for the Merseysiders, with former Chelsea and Arsenal winger Willian putting Fulham ahead in the 19th minute. The visitors kept their lead into the second half and past the hour mark, but in the 68th minute, Curtis Jones’ deflected shot set the score level, and only three minutes later, Liverpool substitute Cody Gakpo scored what would eventually become the winning goal for his team.
The teams
It’s never a good time for a player to get injured, but the news of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold picking up a knee problem ahead of this game was a really bad moment for it due to the fact that his usual alternative at right-back, Joe Gomez, is already tasked with playing on the left in the absence of Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas.
Therefore, manager Jurgen Klopp had no real choice but to start 20-year-old Conor Bradley on the right, with captain Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate as the centre-back pair. Caoimhin Kelleher was in goal instead of Alisson Becker. In the middle of the park, Alexis Mac Allister was joined by Jones and Ryan Gravenberch. Diogo Jota led the line upfront, flanked by Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott.
Along with Alexander-Arnold, Tsimikas and Robertson, midfielders Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic, as well as defender Joel Matip. were absent through injury, while Wataru Endo and Mohamed Salah are away on international duty.
For Fulham, centre-back Tim Ream and winger Adama Traore were injured. Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi (both Nigeria), Fode Ballo-Toure (Senegal), are with their national teams at the moment.
With Bernd Leno in goal, the centre-back pair of Tosin Adarabioyo and Issa Diop was flanked by Timothy Castagne on the right and Antonee Robinson on the left. Joao Palhinha and Harrison Reed played in the middle of the park, with the trio of Willian, Roberto Pereyra and Bobby Decordova-Reid supporting lone striker Raul Jimenez.
Both sides were obviously depleted up to a point as a high number of injuries often coincides with the mid-season continental tournaments in Africa and Azia, in the middle of a busy winter schedule.
The game
Liverpool expectedly dominated the game in terms of the relevant stats. With 67% of possession, the hosts took 12 shots, seven on target, while Fulham had a total four, all on target. Liverpool also took more corners (8-2), and attempted more passes (644-322) with greater accuracy (87-70%). However, at the end of the first half, Fulham were ahead, and they arguably deserved to be.
Liverpool wasted two relatively good chances within the opening 15 minutes, both the results of successful midfield pressing in the opposition half. While Leno easily saved Jones’ effort from outside the box, the second situation ended with Jota smacking the ball across the six yards with Diaz too late to meet it at the far post.
Punishment came in the 19th minute, when Van Dijk’s poor header put the ball in the path of Pereyra. The Fulham playmaker picked it up, ran into the box and pulled it back for Willian, who skipped to avoid Bradley’s lunge before coolly slotting past Van Dijk and Kelleher. A fine finish, and an inexplicably bad moment from the Liverpool captain.
Klopp’s team now had no choice but to open up a bit more, but Fulham boss Marco Silva had his team defending with at least eight outfield players inside their own box. Furthermore, they occasionally threatened to double their lead through counterattacks, and though they didn’t manage it, they did get Van Dijk booked and created a few potentially dangerous moments for Kelleher. They came very close in the 38th minute, but Decordova-Ried was indecisive and thus allowed Diaz to intervene and clear. At the other end, Gomez’s effort from range in final seconds of the half was probably the best Liverpool had done up to that point.
Similar moments took turns after the break as well, with Leno making light work of Jones’ shot from distance and Decordova-Reid testing Kelleher’s alertness from a tight angle even though he had Pereyra completely open on the far post.
Just ahead of the hour mark, Klopp introduced Gakpo and Darwin Nunez from the bench and each played a crucial role in the 68th minute. Another spell of high press paid off again as Gakpo pressured Robinson into a mistake and Bradley won the ball. Jota took it further up and passed to Nunez, who laid it off for Jones. The 22-year-old set himself nicely and fired, catching a deflection of Adarabioyo which took it beyond Leno’s reach, straight into the back of the net.
Three minutes later, another fine combination involving Jota and Nunez on the left ended with Gakpo netting the second Liverpool goal from six yards.
Nunez had three late chances to get his name on the scoresheet as well and increase his team’s capital going into the second leg, but Leno thwarted his efforts with three excellent saves.
Fulham did well in Anfield furnace
Though no team lacks motivation when presented with the task, coming to Anfield and facing the six-time European champions is never easy. Yet, Fulham did very well by not allowing the home side to have it all their own way, and after the Premier League thriller which saw them lose 4-3 at the same ground back in early December, it’s no lucky fluke.
The Cottagers didn’t allow themselves to get pulled into a contest for controlling the game. Instead, they defended patiently and hit back in quick, clever ways, mostly utilizing the vast experience of Willian and Jimenez to trouble Liverpool’s back line, but Decordova-Reid will be looking back on the evening with several regrets.
In the end, they’ve lost the first leg at Anfield by no more than a goal, and they’ll be feeling confident enough to try as hard as they can to turn the tie around at Craven Cottage on January 24th and book a place in the final.
Conor Bradley impressive again
If there’s anything positive that has come from the fullback injury woes for Liverpool, it’s the emergence of Bradley as a surprisingly reliable option on the right defensive flank. The 20-year-old Northern Ireland international put in a superb performance in the final 20 minutes of Liverpool’s FA Cup victory over Arsenal a few days ago, stopping Gabriel Martinelli in his tracks.
This was a more complete performance, with the youngster far more involved in the attacking third than at the Emirates, and for the full 90 minutes.
Bradley still cannot fully make up for the absence of Alexander-Arnold, whose attacking input makes him a special type of player, and who frequently steps into the midfield to organize his team’s play. For now, Bradley mostly remains close to the touchline, but his presence there is quite valuable at both ends of the pitch.
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