To Jürgen Klopp’s immense relief and Marco Silva’s despair recent history repeated itself at Anfield, where Liverpool staged another quickfire comeback to defeat Fulham.
Liverpool’s mentality and quality off the bench delivered a slender advantage in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final but both the victor and vanquished know the tie is far from over.
Willian struck the first blow of the semi-final for Fulham but, as in the Premier League meeting here last month, the gallant visitors were unable to hold a lead in the face of a Liverpool barrage. Klopp’s team came from 3-2 down in the 87th minute to lead 4-3 by the 88th last time out. Their latest comeback was not quite so dramatic but another two‑goal blitz, from Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo, transformed the complexion in Liverpool’s favour once again.
Gakpo’s winner was the 15th goal scored by a Liverpool substitute this season. Darwin Núñez also had a major impact off the bench and would have put the semi-final beyond Fulham but for three fine saves from Bernd Leno in the closing stages.
“To turn a game around you need quality, you need belief and beyond that you need mentality,” the Liverpool manager said. “The tie is not over yet unfortunately. I didn’t expect a result tonight where we could say: ‘Yes, we can book the hotels for Wembley.’ Marco will not be overly happy tonight but they caused us problems. We will cause them problems and hopefully we’ll be better from the start.”
Fulham had lost all five previous League Cup meetings with Liverpool but made their first appearance in the semi-finals in confident form and took the lead from their first meaningful attack. It came from a rare error by Virgil van Dijk, who missed the FA Cup third-round win at Arsenal on Sunday because of illness and was left feeling pig-sick on his return.
The visitors were under constant pressure at the start as Liverpool dominated possession. Jones and Diogo Jota both threatened Leno’s goal. With Conor Bradley settling in comfortably at right‑back in place of the injured Trent Alexander‑Arnold, even roaming freely in his hybrid midfield role at times, Fulham appeared in for a long and testing night. So much for appearances.
Liverpool’s control and composure evaporated when Fulham edged in front. The breakthrough started with a Joe Gomez throw-in that was headed back towards the Liverpool penalty area. Van Dijk, attempting to clear under pressure from Raúl Jiménez, miscued a weak header into the path of Andreas Pereira who advanced into the box and pulled the ball back for Willian. The 35-year-old Brazilian stumbled over a prostrate Bradley but was able to keep his balance long enough to drill a powerful shot inside Caoimhín Kelleher’s near post.
The Liverpool captain was booked moments later for catching Pereira in the face with an elbow as the pair contested a loose ball. There was no VAR in operation to slow down the incident and make it look far worse. The technology has been removed from all the semi-finals due to the involvement of a Championship club, Middlesbrough. A small mercy.
Liverpool’s first-half performance deteriorated from the moment Willian scored. Unforced errors began to litter their display and possession was lost cheaply. Not for the first time, Klopp’s half-time team talk instigated a vast improvement. The hosts attacked with far greater intensity and purpose in the second half. Fulham, having been increasingly comfortable as the first half wore on, found themselves besieged, albeit with several opportunities to hurt Liverpool on the break.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid was unable to capitalise on three chances that fell his way, being denied by a fine Gomez tackle, just failing to connect with a Willian through ball, and shooting at Kelleher when Pereira was better placed inside.
“That was one of the key moments,” Silva said of De Cordova‑Reid failing to find Pereira. “We reacted well after the first 10 minutes of the second half and we were dangerous on the counterattack. Bobby didn’t see Pereira, because he would have been one‑on‑one with the goalkeeper. Unfortunately Liverpool have the capacity to punish you in many ways. It is going to be tough because Liverpool are leading but we are going to fight to get what we want at Craven Cottage.”
Fulham were punished twice in quick succession. Liverpool levelled with a slice of good fortune when Jota won two strong challenges before finding Núñez. The striker set up Jones for a 20-yard effort that struck Tosin Adarabioyo as the defender turned his back and looped over the stranded Leno. Jota and Núñez were heavily involved in Liverpool’s second, too. The former sent the latter racing down the left and, from Núñez’s low cross, Gakpo swept home a superb finish at the near post. All to play for.
