Liverpool beat Fulham 2-1 in Carabao Cup, the first leg of the Semi-Finals of FA Cup 2-1 on Wednesday. Liverpool seemed Lackluster in the first half and made a comeback in the second half to win this match. Fulham stunned Liverpool in the first half and shut the crowd at Anfield Stadium. Jurgen Klopp’s team somehow sent the fans happy to their home with a comeback win but there is a lot to do in 2nd leg of the tie.
Liverpool beat Fulham
Starting Eleven
Jurgen Klopp’s starting eleven for this game was Caoimhin Kelleherin goal. Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk are in centre-back positions Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez playing as side-backs. Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, and Curtis Jones are in Mid-field Luis Díaz is in the left wing and Harvey Elliott is in the right wing. Deigo Jota is playing as a Striker.
Coach of Fulham Marco Silva’s starting eleven for this match at Anfield was Bernd Leno in goal. Tosin Adarabioyo and Issa Diop are in centre-back positions Antonee Robinson and Timothy Castagne as side side-backs. João Palhinha and Harrison Reed are in Mid-Field. Willian is playing in the left wing and Bobby De Cordova-Reid is in the right wing. Andreas Pereira Playing behind the striker Raúl Jiménez.
First Half
Liverpool came as heavy favorites to win the match but Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk’s tame header allowed Pereira to accelerate into the Liverpool box and pick out Willian, who hurdled Conor Bradley’s challenge, kept his composure, and fired a low finish past Caoimhin Kelleher. Fulham took a lead of 1-0 in the 19th minute.
Liverpool lost composure after conceding a goal while Fulham tried to score another goal. Silva’s side continued to threaten offensively too, with Tosin heading a free kick straight at Kelleher and Pereira testing the goalkeeper from a distance. Joe Gomez tried to score a goal for Liverpool but hit the side netting Liverpool registered only one goal as the target in the first half. Liverpool struggling against Fulham. Silva’s side is in total control and dictating the pace of the game at the end of the first half score remains 1-0.
Second-Half
Liverpool started the second half in the same way as the first half trying to create pressure on Fulham’s defense, but the Fulham defenders handled the pressure and kept a lead intact for their side. There were signs of improvement after the break, with Ryan Gravenberch firing narrowly wide following a driving run through midfield and Timothy Castagne and Antonee Robinson making vital last-ditch interventions to deny Jota. In the 55th minute, Jurgen Klopp decided to bring Cody Gapko and Darwin Nunez from the bench in place of Ryan Gravenberch and Harvey Elliott.
In the 68th minute, Curtis Jones equalized when Strike from distance took a big deflection off Tosin Adarabioyo to wrong-foot Bernd Leno in the Fulham goal. Anfield came back to life fans are cheering for the home team after the dreadful first half.
In the 71st Minute, Darwin Nunez pulled back for Cody Gapko who scored a beautiful goal and Liverpool take lead first time in this game. Liverpool took control of this game and tried to score third but missed the target. Liverpool takes 21 shots of which 7 are on target as compared to Fulham who takes 6 shots of which 4 are on target. The match ended with a 2-1 score line Liverpool won the first leg of the FA Cup at home.
Liverpool have 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁 in the Carabao Cup final 🫡🦶 pic.twitter.com/HrwMChPMzU
— 433 (@433) January 10, 2024
Post-Match
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said “It was super tough. 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-attacking chances, then we were dominant, we scored and everything was fine. It’s not the best game we’ve ever played but we’re human beings.
Fulham will host Liverpool on 25 January at Craven Cottage for the second leg of the Carabao Cup.