UK Edition
Late James Milner penalty sees Liverpool beat Fulham to return to top of Premier League table
There is no doubt who is Liverpoolâs main man right now. And how they needed Sadio Mane. He scored his 11th goal in 11 games - which is impressive enough but, crucially, the forward was also razor-sharp to earn the penalty that James Milner converted to send them back to the top of the Premier League.
How the angst would have enveloped them had they gone into the international break having not established a two-point advantage over Manchester City. In the first-half they seemed so in control, so superior to Fulham and yet their performance deteriorated, became sloppy and they made extremely hard work of this, relying on the penalty.
That has to be worrying even if the assessment of manager Jurgen Klopp could also be seen as a sign of encouragement when he said they did not âpanicâ and âdid not show the nerves you are all waiting forâ. Fair enough. In mitigation, this contest came at the end of a week in which they have been emotionally-drained by the drama of so impressively knocking Bayern Munich out of the Champions League.
And Liverpool did respond superbly when Fulham equalised. But they were fortunate they were facing a side who are certainly far more organised and better under caretaker manager Scott Parker, but who are heading for inevitable relegation and are a damning 13 points off Burnley in 17th place.
Liverpool have played a game more than City, whose next opponents just happen to be Fulham, and had to win here. They have to keep on winning. And winning. And winning. Nothing short of victory would have been good enough and yet for seven nerve-wracking second-half minutes it appeared they had done possibly irreparable damage to their title hopes.
The margins seem set to remain so tight. Nip and tuck, surely, from now until the end of the campaign. Liverpool have seven games to go â and only one of those opponents, Chelsea, have taken points off them this season although next up it is Tottenham. After three damaging draws away from home this was actually Liverpoolâs first league win away from Anfield since January 12 but they will have to do better than this from now until the end of the season. City have eight games to go but among those is the Manchester derby. Who will blink first?
It felt like it might be Liverpool when they allowed Fulham to score â and it felt like it would be one of their former players taking the headlines. Ryan Babel, with his dyed red hair, not a tribute to Liverpool, had claimed he knew the weakness in Virgil van Dijkâs game. But surely he did not mean his fellow Dutchman would make a hash of simply sending the ball back to Alisson?
The goalkeeper was also at fault, appearing hesitant, as was Milner. The midfielder had been sent on by Klopp to âcalm things downâ but sparked the mess by slicing a routine clearance high into the air. The wind looped the ball backwards for Van Dijk and Alisson to have their mix-up. Babel block-tackled the goalkeeper and then tapped the loose ball into the empty net. He did not celebrate but Fulham â and City â did.
Given how outstanding Van Dijk has been â as has Alisson â it would have been cruelly ironic that those two may have blown Liverpoolâs title hopes. Van Dijk did not give the dangerous Aleksandar Mitrovic a sniff but had made a stink of the goal.
It would be Fulham goalkeeper Sergio Rico who would, literally, hand Liverpool a lifeline as he spilled Mohamed Salahâs shot and then panicked and needlessly pulled back Mane as he tried to collect the loose ball. The Senegalese made the most of it, going down dramatically, but it was a penalty and Milner sent the spot-kick unerringly past a forlorn Rico. It is now also 51 league games that Milner has not lost when he has scored.
That stressful end seemed a far cry from the control Liverpool had shown in taking the lead. There was a realisation that Fulham were vulnerable down their right where Timothy Fosu-Mensah was making his first appearance in more than four months. It looked like it and his cause was not helped by the fact that, in front of him, Floyd Ayite was making his first league start.
Andrew Robertson instigated the opening goal as he exploited the space again and found Mane who worked his way into the penalty area and slipped a smart pass to Roberto Firmino who had moved cleverly towards the by-line. The Brazilian cut the ball back; Mane continued his own run and side-footed a first-time shot into the net for his 20th goal of the season â drawing him level with Salah. Mane is in the form of his life and how Liverpool, with Salah and Firmino fitful, must be so relieved that he is.
Liverpool had other chances, with Rico saving well from Fabinho, Van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum, and went close when Mane rose to meet Trent Alexander-Arnoldâs corner with his flicked header clipping the top of the crossbar. But they were sluggish, maybe fatigue was a factor also, and gradually lost their control.
Soon after Fulham equalised it all appeared to be in the balance. It was to Liverpoolâs credit that they found the response. âAverage game,â Klopp said afterwards, âsensational resultâ. Thanks to the Mane man, Klopp was right. But it was far too close to being even more sensational for Liverpool and this remarkable title race.
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86 mins: Fulham 1 Liverpool 2
Break. It's Mane and Salah. The deadly duo, perhaps not quite as deadly as they used to be, but surely still with plenty to spare against this shambles of a defence. Quick, neat passes, and Salah shoots... but Rico manages to stop it. Needs two bites at the cherry again, mind you. How about catching it, mmm?
79 mins: Fulham 1 Liverpool 1
Penaltyto Liverpool! For sheer stupidity, you have to give it. Salah with a snap shot. The Fulham keeper Rico should, has to, gather this first time. But he instead just pat-a-cakes it downwards. Mane nips in and Rico, panicking, gets his hands around the Liverpool man's waist. Mane of course goes down like he's been hit by a truck. Ref has an easy decision to make.
Milner steps up...
GOAL! Fulham 1 Liverpool 1 (Babel 74)
Oh my goodness! Scenes! A goal kick from Fulham. A sliced attempt to clear from James Milner ends up playing the ball towards his own goal. Van Dijk tries to head it back to Alisson, but they get in a terrible pickle. Ryan Babel steals in and taps it home. He refuses to celebrate, which seems a bit ridiculous. You're not Denis Law, mate. Never mind about that. Fulham have levelled it!
Seconds before, Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner was headed onto the bar by Sadio Mane. Oh, Liddypool. This one really is going to sting.
Half time: Fulham 0 Liverpool 1
That'll do it for the first dig. Only one side in it, one imagines that the second, deal-sealing goal will arrive within about a quarter of an hour of the second half. Still, you never know. Fulham have been more defensively resilient than we thought they might, I suppose.
41 mins: Fulham 0 Liverpool 1
The lethal Mane down that left, wins a corner. Liverpool fail to make much of it. Klopp, who is wearing a snood-scarf thing covering up the lower part of his face like a bankrobber in the Old West, looks on impassively.
Fabinho with another foul! This time on Seri. not worthy of a second yellow, but he cannot have many more chances to play with.
Teams in text
Fulham: Sergio Rico, Fosu-Mensah, Chambers, Ream, Bryan, Zambo, Seri, Ayite, Cairney, Babel, Mitrovic. Subs: Ryan Sessegnon, Odoi, McDonald, Kebano, Vietto, Christie, Ramirez.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Lallana, Salah, Firmino, Mane. Subs: Lovren, Milner, Sturridge, Moreno, Mignolet, Shaqiri, Origi.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Good afternoon
Hope you're having a happy Sunday, and I for one hope that we can have an exciting match here, an opportunity for Liverpool to land at least a glancing blow on Manchester City, with their Title rivals otherwise engaged this weekend in the FA Cup. Liverpool begin this match one point behind Pep's men, and can obviously go ahead with a win, but they will have played a game more. I've made that sound more complicated than it is, haven't I? Apologies for that.
For Fulham, things are quite a bit simpler. They need to win, and win, and win, but to most people's eyes the situation looks hopeless. Burnley are 17th with 30 points, Cardiff 18th on 28th, and then the Cottagers a full 11 points again, 13 from safety on just 17 points. Were it not for hapless Huddersfield on 14, the West Londoners would be flat last. Most bookies have stopped taking bets on them being relegated.
It is very hard to see beyond a Liverpool win today. After their win against Bayern Munich, Franz Beckenbauer said that he liked Jurgen Klopp as a future manager of said German powerhouse. Klopps' response:
âWe are friends, even if we donât talk a lot, but I am not surprised that he said positive things about me. When he always speaks about me, he speaks positively.
âIt is just like the king knighting a man âSirâ. There is no bigger football legend in Germany than Franz Beckenbauer. It is great."
But Klopp also says that he is focusing on Liverpool, etc etc, and why wouldn't he be?