Beating Liverpool at home is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
For the second time this winter, though, Fulham thought they had cracked the code to victory at Anfield. But, for the second time this winter, two goals in three minutes saw the Reds claim the spoils.
Wednesday night's Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg loss was not as heartbreaking as their league defeat a few weeks ago. Tonight they lead until 22 minutes from time, back in December the equaliser came in the 86th minute.
It is all too easy to say now that this latest Liverpool comeback win was inevitable, because for the majority of this enticing battle on Merseyside, a goal — let alone a result — did not look like a foregone conclusion.
Rather than criticism of Jurgen Klopp’s side for having a supposed off day, there instead ought to be immense credit for Fulham. Marco Silva’s men went toe-to-toe with the Premier League leaders, and it was by doing so — winning second balls, upsetting their rhythm — that Fulham masterminded a near-perfect first-half display.
They had a lead to take into the dressing room, too, courtesy of a couple of poor individual errors from the nine-time champions of this competition.
First, the returning Virgil van Dijk headed straight to Andreas Pereira. Then Pereira's pass into Willian was easily controlled by the Brazilian thanks to young Conor Bradley’s naïve sliding tackle to try and win it. Willian skipped past him, sized up Van Dijk, and tucked home.
Fulham knew what lay ahead for them. They bedded in and defended excellently — Tosin Adarabioyo and Joao Palhinha winning crucial tackles, and Harrison Reed shuttling around in midfield like a bluebottle that Liverpool just couldn’t get rid of.
Liverpool always posed a threat, but nothing looked like materialising from their immense share of possession until Klopp brought Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo into the fray.
Curtis Jones’s shot took a huge deflection off Adarabioyo on 68 minutes and flew past Bernd Leno. Then, three minutes later, Nunez ran to the byline and crossed for Gakpo to slot home and become the Carabao Cup’s joint-top scorer this season with four goals.
Fulham were in danger of letting Liverpool run away with it, but Leno’s brilliance and Nunez’s poor luck in front of goal ensured it stayed 2-1.
Yes, it was another defeat from a winning position for Silva’s Fulham. But plenty still to play for in the second leg in a fortnight. That was the crucial thing here.
