Liverpool defeats Fulham in EFL Cup semifinal

Liverpool needed a comeback to draw first blood in an EFL Cup semifinal first leg against Fulham with a 2-1 win at Anfield. The win was vital in extending their unbeaten home run to 24 matches in all competitions.

Liverpool may have started brightly through some half chances, but it was the Cottagers who led against the run of play as Willian struck past Caoimhin Kelleher after 19 minutes of play.

The home side was frustrated for the rest of the first staff as Joe Gomez was denied an opportunity to score on his 200 appearance for the club, while Fulham went into the break ahead.

The Reds took total control after the break as Ryan Gravenberch fired wide while Diego Jota had his effort blocked. Moments after, Klopp introduced both Cody Gakpo and Darwin Núñez in place of Gravenberch and Harvey Elliott as they sought their way back.

It didn’t come immediately, but eventually, in the 68th minute, Curtis Jones’s strike from the edge of the box took a huge deflection off Tosin Adarabioyo to beat Leno. Three minutes later, Jota and Núñez combined to set up Gakpo, who finished brilliantly for the winner.

Perhaps the three minutes of turning things around impressed Jurgen Klopp so much so that he tagged the second half a proper Liverpool performance in parts of his post-match conference.

“It was super tough. In the first half, we caused ourselves some problems. They were really compact defending, and we had to change at half-time, and the boys did really well. They had big counter-attack chances, so we were dominant. We scored, and everything was fine. It’s not the best game we’ve ever played, but we’re human beings. It was always too slow, and we had to change it. It was then a good game, and the crowd was there all the time for us; we just didn’t give them a lot to cheer about. but in the second half, it was a proper, proper Liverpool performance.” Klopp said.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu