Two points lost, a successful test of character. It remains to be seen what turns out to be more important in the final tally, but it did shake things up on Liverpool FC’s part.
Twice in a position to be both a goal and a man down, they managed to equalize twice, showing their spirit and the ingenuity of Arne Slot. If the Dutchman was supposed to want control, it was an after-effect of the chaos of the 3-3 draw at Newcastle. Slot, usually synonymous with calm, was caught up in the emotion of the occasion, getting booked at one point, head in hands at another.
Yet if he showed composure to extend Liverpool’s unbeaten run to 19 games, Diogo Jota did the same. Seven minutes after his return after more than seven weeks of absence, the substitute showed composure to equalize. In a match of fluctuating feelings, Slot found himself with contrasting thoughts. “I think it’s the opposite of Girona where I was happy with the result but not with the performance. Here I’m very, very happy with the performance – I couldn’t have asked for better – but if you drop points in a home game against Fulham it’s certainly not what you expect.
The facts are that victory eluded Liverpool for a second consecutive league match, just as Fulham FC, after holding off Arsenal, made another intervention in the title race. In a match that turned into a 107-minute epic with 28 shots, seven yellow cards for players – plus one for Slot – and one red, Fulham held on.
If it was their misfortune to be demoted to a subplot, it was a story of two left-backs. Antonee Robinson was the outstanding player on the field, Andy Robertson quickly came off the field. The Fulham driver scored both goals for his team and defended wonderfully against Mohamed Salah. “What a performance,” said manager Marco Silva. But Robinson’s Liverpool counterpart shaped the event, compiling something of an unwanted hat-trick during his brief and painful outing. Injured from the first minute, while Issa Diop may have been lucky to escape an immediate sending off for his challenge against the studs, he got the finishing touch on Fulham’s first goal and then received himself the first red card.
This meant that, when injury time was included, Liverpool played almost 90 minutes with 10 men. If Slot has excelled at problem-solving so far during his reign, he has tinkered, first unsuccessfully, then more influentially, to change a game that threatened to slip away from Liverpool.
Fulham were far superior in the first half. Yet while Slot may not seem as inspiring a speaker as his predecessor, Jurgen Klopp, he showed the ability to galvanize his team on the break. When Jota scored, 22 of Liverpool’s last 25 goals had come in the second half.
His ability to work with Klopp’s players and, at times, reinvent them, came under greater scrutiny when Robertson left, which, with Kostas Tsimikas injured, left Liverpool without a natural left-back. Slot got creative; unfortunately for him, his team didn’t do it before the break.
Other managerial interventions have revived his team, often involving Ryan Gravenberch. “Ryan has done an exceptional job once again,” said Slot, after a breakthrough as a defensive midfielder turned quasi-defender. “He was mostly in our last line without the ball. With the ball he entered midfield. By the end, he was almost a midfielder unto himself as Slot overloaded the forwards when Darwin Nunez and Jota came on. “We just bring in all the players who can score a goal,” Slot said.
And a replacement did. Nunez, criticized for his lack of goals, instead scored one, finding Jota, who marked his first appearance since October by going past the excellent Jorge Cuenca and past Bernd Leno.
Yet the first change of direction that bore fruit came when Marco Silva recalled Andreas Pereira, marginalized since suggesting he join Marseille, for Emile Smith Rowe. Fulham have power, as they showed by scoring for a 15th consecutive league game, and Liverpool conceded for the first time in 447 minutes at Anfield, with Fulham succeeding where the champions of England, Spain and of Germany had failed by breaking through their defenses. Pereira volleyed over Robinson’s deep cross, although it may have required a deflection off Robertson’s thigh to beat Alisson.
The Scot’s afternoon was going to get even worse. Robertson’s poor touch came at a significant cost, allowing Wilson to rush at him and behind the Liverpool defence. When Robertson tripped him, the second red card of his Liverpool career followed. His manager agreed the decision was correct, but felt Robertson had been hampered by Diop’s early lunge. “I think Robbo was maybe a little too injured to continue because normally he’s faster than that,” he said. “Nothing to blame him for. It says a lot about his character and the fact that he wanted to continue.
Cody Gakpo initially assumed some of his duties, moving to left back for five minutes. “It looked better on the tactical board,” Slot mused wryly. He re-established his compatriot on the wing and Gakpo burst into the box to meet Salah’s curling cross with a diving header. It was a seventh goal in his last 10 matches for the Dutchman. Even though Salah’s goal streak ended after seven consecutive league matches, he got his 100th assist for the club.
And Liverpool have been relentless, propelled by the leadership of Dominik Szoboszlai and Joe Gomez. The defender felt he deserved a penalty when Kenny Tete blocked it in a manner more suited to oval ball sports.
Fulham, meanwhile, turned things around again, seeking a third win in 39 trips to Anfield when Silva was the first manager to introduce a striking substitute. After a second push deep into Liverpool territory by Robinson, he crossed and Rodrigo Muniz’s low shot went into Gomez. “We feel like we should have won,” Silva said.
Liverpool had the same feeling, the same combination of pride and disappointment, of what could have resulted from a wonderful match.