Goals from Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo saw Liverpool come from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 in the first leg of their 2023-24 Carabao Cup semi-final.
Gakpo flicked in a 71st minute winner from Darwin Nunez’s pullback pass as Liverpool came from behind to put this semi-final tie firmly in their hands.
Curtis Jones’ strike via Tosin Adarabioyo’s deflection in the 68th minute had brought Jurgen Klopp’s Reds level, after Willian had punished Virgil van Dijk’s loose header with a 19th minute effort from close-range to initially put Fulham into a shock lead.
Marco Silva’s Cottagers now head into the second leg at Craven Cottage on Wednesday 24 January with a 2-1 aggregate deficit to overturn, with a spot in the final against Middlesbrough or Chelsea at stake.
Amidst an injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold during their FA Cup win at Arsenal last Sunday (7 January), Klopp made five changes to his Liverpool team albeit with little effect as they quickly dominated possession in the opening minutes.
That early spell almost yielded success just six minutes in but Curtis Jones put a shot straight into Fulham’s Bernd Leno’s arms after he intercepted Adarabioyo’s pass.
Young right-back, Conor Bradley missed a chance to net his first senior goal for the Reds just two minutes later, having overlapped Harvey Elliott to meet the winger’s floating pass but the 20 year-old hit his shot straight into Leno’s arms.
Liverpool continued to attack with Joe Gomez’s 12th minute effort curled over the bar but under their first serious defensive test in the 19th minute, Van Dijk nodded a cross down for Pereira to lay across for Willian to calmly cut into space and fire in to put Fulham into a shock lead.
That mistake sparked further intensity amongst Klopp’s Reds to chase an equaliser before half time, as Elliott flicked Diogo Jota’s cross over the bar in the 22nd minute.
Fulham however almost doubled their lead in the 26th minute after Issa Diop met Willian’s free-kick following a foul on Pereira, but Caoimhin Kelleher made a crucial save from Diop’s header to keep the hosts firmly in the tie.
Kelleher once again came to Liverpool’s rescue before half time as Fulham broke forward apace in the 44th minute, with Raul Jimenez free to tee up Pereira but the Brazilian’s shot towards the bottom-right corner was eventually saved by the Irish goalkeeper.
Fulham though managed to protect their slim lead into the break as Gomez fired wide in the third minute of injury-time.
Liverpool however refused to relent in their attacking dominance early in the second half as Ryan Gravenberch and Jota saw shots denied.
Fulham’s resistance soon forced Klopp into a double change with Elliott and Gravenberch substituted in 56th minute for Nunez and Gakpo, but the Reds’ defence had to ride their luck as Bobby De-Cordova Reid wasted two chances to extend the Cottagers’ lead.
Referee – David Cootes meanwhile ignored penalty appeals from the hosts in the 66th minute after Antonee Robinson handballed Alexis Mac Allister’s cross with his right arm.
That incident quickly proved a foot note after Jota teed up Jones two minutes later, from which the England Under-21s international smashed into the top-right corner via Adarabioyo’s deflection to restore parity.
Liverpool refused to settle for a draw as Jota rifled over the bar on-the-turn in the 69th minute but they seized the lead two minutes later, as Nunez broke up the left and found Gakpo to flick into the near-bottom left corner from his pullback pass much to the home fans’ delight.
Jota and Nunez saw further chances denied by Leno as he valiantly kept Fulham’s deficit to just the single goal ahead of the second leg at Craven Cottage in a fortnight’s time.
What’s Next?
Liverpool are now on a winter break before they visit Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday 21 January at 4:30pm GMT.
Fulham visit Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a West-London derby in the Premier League on Saturday 13 January, in a 12:30pm kick-off.
Teams
Liverpool: Caoimhin Kelleher, Conor Bradley, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Ryan Gravenberch (Nunez 56′), Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott (Gakpo 56′), Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz
Substitutes: Alisson, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Bobby Clark, Kaide Gordon, James McConnell, Owen Beck, Jarrel Quansah, Trey Nyoni
Fulham: Bernd Leno, Timothy Castagne, Tosin Adarabioyo, Issa Diop, Antonee Robinson, Joao Palhinha, Harrison Reed (Lukic 83′), Bobby De-Cordova Reid, Andreas Pereira (Cairney 72′), Willian (Wilson 72′), Raul Jimenez
Substitutes: Marek Rodak, Kenny Tete, Tim Ream, Sasa Lukic, Tyrese Francois, Tom Cairney, Harry Wilson, Rodrigo Muniz, Carlos Vinicius
Referee – David Coote
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