Reds mount dramatic comeback

Ten-man Liverpool contrived a thrilling fightback as they recovered from two goals down at half-time to snatch their first Barclays Premiership away win under new manager Rafael Benitez.

The manager’s Spanish compatriot Xabi Alonso, a £10m (€14.5m) signing from Real Sociedad, did the trick with a stunning free-kick from 25 yards which took a slight deflection after the Reds had trailed sheepishly to a Luis Boa Morte double before the break.

Alonso started the match on the bench, possibly to save him for Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Deportivo La Coruna.

However, it eventually dawned on Benitez that Alonso was needed sooner than that.

He also set up Liverpool’s equaliser with a superb cross which enabled Milan Baros to claim a double of his own even though his first, just after half-time, would never have gone in but for Zat Knight’s reluctant and probably unknowing intervention.

Fulham’s misery was complete when Igor Biscan made it 4-2 with virtually the last kick of the match after arriving as another substitute. His smashing strike sailed beyond the hapless Edwin van der Sar.

Benitez’s new-look team had looked good for their first away success in the league with an enterprising start in which Luis Garcia and Baros probed away at the Fulham defence and Djibril Cisse prowled with intent around the penalty area.

Boa Morte’s opening goal, a simple tap-in after Salif Diao carelessly gave the ball away, might have been just a blip in the 24th minute.

Liverpool, beaten by the odd goal on their previous four trips to Chelsea, Olympiacos, Manchester United and Bolton, almost repaired the damage immediately when John Arne Riise’s header from a lovely cross by Josemi just about cleared the Fulham crossbar.

But the Reds were stunned by a second Boa Morte goal in the 29th minute and left facing a considerable uphill task.

Brian McBride, who had crossed a beautiful ball for the first goal, was again involved with a clever flick.

Steed Malbranque spotted Boa Morte’s run, supplying a perfect ball for the Portuguese winger to outpace Sami Hyypia and shoot low beyond the desperately advancing Chris Kirkland into the far corner.

The ubiquitous Boa Morte was lucky to escape a booking for a bad tackle but team-mate Adam Green was not so lucky a few minutes later although the free kick it produced for Luis Garcia was a tame affair and an easy collect for the towering Edwin van der Sar.

It was definitely luck, however, which sparked the Liverpool comeback in the second half.

Just three minutes after the break, with full-back Josemi having collected the first of his two cards for a foul on McBride, an attempted cross-cum-shot by Baros took a mighty deflection off Knight’s backside and looped over van der Sar.

Still, Fulham looked as though they could keep the points until Baros struck again, shooting into an empty net after the goalkeeper palmed away Luis Garcia’s diving header in the 71st minute.

The Londoners looked favourites again when Josemi was given his marching orders with 14 minutes to go – only for Alonso to work his magic three minutes later and Biscan to apply the gloss.