Coming back to the field after more than 2 months of injury, Diogo Jota “saved” Liverpool’s 10-man squad from a crushing defeat against Fulham with an equalizer in the 86th minute.
Having to play so frequently seems to have worn down the physical strength of Liverpool players, the team that is still dominating both the Premier League and Champions League rankings.
Liverpool’s midweek trip to Spain for their clash with Girona has clearly had a big impact on their preparations for hosting Fulham at Anfield.
Coach Arne Slot and Liverpool’s winning streak stopped
Having just received the “Best Coach of November” award, Coach Arne Slot had the opportunity to experience the unhappy feeling from those who have received this title.
He himself received his third yellow card of the season and will be banned from coaching for one match in the coming days. His team was behind twice and had to play with one less man for most of the match, but luckily they did not lose in the end…
Andreas Pereira opened the scoring
After 11 minutes, Liverpool, after being continuously pressured, conceded an early goal. Antonee Robinson crossed the ball to the right wing, right to Andreas Pereira’s position and the Brazilian midfielder immediately launched a powerful volley.
The ball hit defender Andy Robertson’s thigh and changed direction, flying straight into Liverpool’s net, leaving goalkeeper Alisson Becker helpless.
Andy Robertson received a red card and left the field after only 16 minutes
Liverpool’s “tragedy” did not stop there because just 5 minutes later, Andy Robertson lost the speed race with Harry Wilson, forced to foul the former Anfield player when Wilson was face to face with the goalkeeper.
VAR reviewed the incident in detail and agreed with the referee to send off the Scottish defender.
In a situation of being short of players, Liverpool could not maintain their tactics and accepted passive defense, giving the right to attack to Fulham.
However, the home team still maintained control of the ball and created many dangerous counter-attacks.
Cody Gakpo flew to head the ball to equalize 1-1
When the second half had just returned for about 2 minutes, Mohamed Salah had an accurate cross for Cody Gakpo to fly and head the ball beautifully, equalizing 1-1. The home team then created a number of dangerous opportunities but their strikers could not take advantage.
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Fulham took the lead for the second time in the 76th minute when Antonee Robinson broke free and sent a cross for substitute Rodrigo Muniz to score.
Coach Arne Slot was not inferior to his colleague Marco Silva in “reacting quickly” when he decided to add Diogo Jota and Harvey Elliott to the field to increase the attack.
Diogo Jota equalizes 2-2 for Liverpool
Harvey Elliott himself launched a curling shot that missed the post by just a hair’s breadth and just a few seconds later, it was Diogo Jota’s turn to receive the ball from Darwin Nunez and easily score in his usual style, tying the score at 2-2 for Liverpool.
The match was added 9 minutes but neither side could score more goals, especially Liverpool’s continuous attacks.
With a 2-2 draw, Liverpool still holds the top spot but is only 5 points ahead of second-placed Chelsea with the same number of matches. Arsenal in the same match could only share points with a 0-0 draw with Everton, so there was no surprise for Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah regrets the draw at Anfield
Despite his disappointment, coach Arne Slot was quite moderate in his post-match comments. He did not say much about the yellow card he received in the match (for reacting to a foul on Curtis Jones) but expressed satisfaction with Liverpool’s performance in the match. “Conceding two goals and having to play with one less man, Liverpool played very well, could not have asked for more from the players” – Arne Slot shared.