To Jürgen Klopp’s great relief and Marco Silva’s despair, recent history repeated itself at Anfield, where Liverpool staged another rapid-fire comeback to beat Fulham.
Liverpool’s mentality and quality on the bench gave them a slight advantage in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final but both winner and loser know the tie is far from over.
Willian struck the first blow of the semi-final for Fulham, but just like in the Premier League meeting held here last month, the brave guest team could not maintain the lead against Liverpool’s barrage. Klopp’s team was trailing 3-2 in the 87th minute and took a 4-3 lead in the 88th minute at the last break. Their last comeback wasn’t that dramatic but a two-goal strike from Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo turned the tables in Liverpool’s favor once again.
Gakpo’s winner was the 15th goal scored by a Liverpool substitute this season. Darwin Núñez also made a big impact off the bench and could have put the semi-final beyond Fulham had it not been for three fine saves from Bernd Leno in the closing stages.
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“To turn a game around you need quality, belief and beyond that mentality,” the Liverpool manager said. “Unfortunately, the draw isn’t over yet. I wasn’t expecting a result tonight where we could say: ‘Yes, we can book a hotel for Wembley.’ “Marco won’t be happy tonight but they gave us trouble. We’ll give them trouble and hopefully we’ll be better than we started.”
Fulham had lost all five of their previous League Cup encounters with Liverpool but came into the semi-finals for the first time in confident form and took the lead in the first meaningful attack. This resulted from a rare mistake from Virgil van Dijk, who missed Sunday’s FA Cup third-round win at Arsenal through illness and felt nauseous on his return.
The visitors were under constant pressure at the start as Liverpool dominated possession. Jones and Diogo Jota threatened Leno’s goal. Fulham had a long and difficult night, with Conor Bradley settling comfortably into the right-back position in place of the injured Trent Alexander‑Arnold, even roaming freely in a hybrid midfield role at times. So much for looks.
Liverpool’s control and composure evaporated when Fulham took the lead. The breakthrough started with Joe Gomez’s throw-in heading into the Liverpool penalty area. Trying to clear the ball under pressure from Raúl Jiménez, Van Dijk missed a weak header into the path of Andreas Pereira, who advanced towards the penalty area and pulled the ball back to Willian. The 35-year-old Brazilian tripped a prone Bradley but managed to keep his balance long enough to fire a powerful shot past Caoimhín Kelleher’s near post.
The Liverpool captain received a yellow card for catching Pereira in the face with his elbow as the pair tackled a loose ball. There was no VAR operation to slow down the incident and make the situation look much worse. Due to the involvement of Championship club Middlesbrough, this technology was removed from all semi-finals. A little mercy.
Liverpool’s first half performance deteriorated from the moment Willian scored. Unforced errors began to litter their screens and the ball was lost cheaply. Although not for the first time, Klopp’s halftime team talk led to a major development. The home team attacked with much greater intensity and determination in the second half. Growing increasingly comfortable as the first half wore on, Fulham found themselves outflanked despite having several opportunities to hurt Liverpool just before half-time.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid failed to capitalize on three chances that came his way, being denied by Gomez’s good tackle, failing to connect with Willian and shooting at Kelleher when Pereira was in a better position inside.
“That was one of the most important moments,” Silva said of De Cordova‑Reid’s failure to find Pereira. “After the first 10 minutes of the second half, we reacted well and were dangerous on the counter-attack. Bobby didn’t see Pereira because he was going to have a one-on-one meeting with the goalkeeper. Unfortunately, Liverpool have the capacity to punish you in many ways. “It will be difficult because Liverpool are ahead but we will fight to get what we want at Craven Cottage.”
Fulham were penalized twice in a row. Liverpool equalized with a slice of good luck as Jota won two strong tackles before finding Núñez. The striker set up Jones for a 20-yard effort and hit Tosin Adarabioyo as the defender turned his back and headed over the stranded Leno. Jota and Núñez also played an intense role in Liverpool’s secondary. The first sent the second down the left and from Núñez’s low cross, Gakpo curled in a superb finish at the near post. All for playing.