6 April 2025
Fulham 3 Liverpool 2
Fulham welcomed league leaders Liverpool to a sun-soaked Craven Cottage, with the visitors looking to move a step closer to securing the title. The Reds could not have written a better script for the weekend, with The Gunners dropping points at Goodison Park the day before. Victory would see Arne Slot’s side move fourteen points clear of Mikel Arteta’s team.
Marco Silva has struggled to get a consistent beat out of his side this season. On their day, they are match for anyone and seem to show that against the bigger sides. At both Anfield and The Etihad, they should have come away with three points. However, their form of late has taken a dip and this seemed to be three points for the taking for the visitors if they played their normal game.
Good teams have two players for every position. Now while Liverpool have that to an extent, the drop-off from Alisson to Kelleher is large and the defence misses his commanding of the defence. The young Irish keeper is a good shot stopper but the Brazilian is the complete package and inspires confidence in those around him.
This was underpinned as Konate got in a mess dwelling on the ball in the area. It was stolen off him and the hosts almost made them pay but Liverpool got lucky. However, in true Reds’ style this season, those hopes for Fulham fans were immediately extinguished. As they came forward, Mac Allister strode towards The Cottagers’ goal.
With everyone backing off him, the Argentine let fly and sent one into the top corner as the away end erupted. It was a stunning strike and showed what a capture he was for Slot’s side. This is the sign of champions, capable of just pulling a moment of magic from nowhere. It put them in a position of strength and not many could see them surrendering the lead from here.
Fulham came forward again and worked it out wide. As a cross was swung into the danger area, Jones failed to deal with it as it struck his leg. Sessegnon reacted quickest and drilled it into the bottom corner to pull the hosts level. The defending from the visitors was lethargic and that of a side who thought their work for the season was already done.
A dreadful crossfield pass from Robertson went straight to Iwobi on the edge of the box. His first effort was blocked but he regained the ball and was forced a little wider. Trying to work a shooting opportunity, the winger let fly, taking deflections off two players before ending up in the back of the net. This was not what we had come to expect from this team, Southampton maybe.
Things then went from bad to worse as the hosts countered. Iwobi had another curling effort but Kelleher palmed it wide for a corner. The Reds struggled to clear their lines and Muniz took the ball brilliantly out of the air. He turned towards goal and slotted it underneath the keeper to make it three-one to the West London outfit. Liverpool had completely buckled.
After the break, Salah picked the pocket of Bassey. He slid it into the path of Jota and the striker had a clear sight of goal. His shot was goal bound but Leno made a phenomenal save to turn it over. Moments later the ball dropped to Salah six yards out but incredibly he put it over the target. Slot rang the changes to try and make something happen.
At this stage of the game, The Reds were playing with five up top. However, it was Bradley who turned creator as he played Diaz through. The Columbian nudged it past Leno to give the league leaders some hope they could still get something out of this. With just under twenty minutes to go, this was anybody’s game again.
The visitors were all over Fulham in the latter stages and Robertson drilled the ball across the box. It missed everyone and came through to Elliott. He shifted it onto his left foot and curled one, seemingly heading for the top corner. The former Cottager was left frustrated as his effort came crashing back off the crossbar.
As much as they tried, it was just not happening for Slot’s side. Chiesa had a shot from the edge of the box but it was a routine save for Leno. Moments later Salah set up Elliott but his attempt to pass it into the far corner was foiled. The longer the game went on, the more desperate the passing seemed from the visitors.
Marco Silva’s side held on for the three points and left him with an impressive record against the side who could well win the title this campaign. This was only Liverpool’s second defeat under their Dutch manager and it will be important to see how they bounce back. They had missed a big opportunity to extend their lead at the top in the capital.
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