Slot searches for answers after Reed rocket snatches a point for Fulham
Liverpool manager Arne Slot at the final whistle. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.
Arne Slot is experiencing a nagging sense of deja-vu after Liverpool conceded a crazy 97th-minute equaliser at Craven Cottage, suggesting that ongoing bad luck is a major part of his side’s painful season. Harrison Reed’s astonishing long-distance equaliser, just three minutes after Cody Gakpo appeared to have won the game for Liverpool, has once again halted Liverpool’s progress and heaped pressure back onto the beleaguered champions.
It was the kind of set-back the Reds have suffered several times already this season and you could sense the weary frustration in Slot’s voice as he attempted to explain it all in his post-match conference by in London.
His team had come back well in the match, having gone 1-0 down to an excellent strike from Harry Wilson despite dominating the first half.
They levelled the scores through a much-needed goal from big-money signing Florian Wirtz and then celebrated wildly after Gakpo, standing in as a striker in the absence of injured Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak, appeared to hit the winner from close range.
But then came Reed’s howitzer and Liverpool were back to square one.
“You have to give credit to the player but what are the odds? It’s not a big XG.
“We have been experiencing this for months where the first real chance a team gets, the only chance, they score. That’s one thing we see. Then the second thing we see a lot is a goal you don’t expect in extra time.
“Fulham are a good team with good ideas about football and we hardly conceded chances against them. We controlled the game and created enough chances to win it.” There’s no doubt that the pressure is ramping up again on Liverpool despite what had seemed to be a breakthrough December, which saw important wins against Wolves, Tottenham, Brighton and Inter Milan.
But a goalless draw against Leeds at Anfield on New Year’s Day and now another set-back at Craven Cottage have added new nerves to the pot. Could this Liverpool team, which began the season as champions and title favourites, see their defence completely fizzle out?
Wirtz, who has been heavily criticised for his form since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen, is at least starting to show signs of what he’s capable of after scoring his second of the season. But even he confessed it was a frustrating afternoon.
“Again, we are in a difficult situation because we drew two times,” he said. “It's not what we want, we want more. We have to get better but it's still a process."
Gakpo, too, looked a frustrated figure, especially as he was substituted straight after scoring and had to watch from the bench as victory was stolen away.
"I think if you are going to analyse the game maybe we should have scored more goals or defended the two goals better,” he said. “In the end we should do much better. There were moments that we showed how good we were but it is up to us to stay consistent and put in overall better performances. I'm sure the wins will come again."
That was probably a fair assessment of the game because Fulham certainly deserved at least a point from it.
They scored in the first half when Jiminez’s clever flick sent Harry Wilson through on goal and he finished with a superbly left-foot effort into the far corner.
There was a long and agonising wait for VAR to decide the midfielder was onside, but the goal counted and Fulham reached the break still 1-0 ahead.
Liverpool then produced a much-improved second-half display. Gakpo had already seen one goal disallowed for offside when Wirtz struck, cleverly turning home from a Conor Bradley assist.
You would have expected Liverpool dominate from there, but in fact Fulham fought back and could have won it when Wilson’s chip hit the bar with goalkeeper Alisson completely out of the picture.
That’s what made the celebrations so wild when Gakpo, four minutes into injury time, finally found the net. He knew it was a huge moment for the champions in an extremely difficult season.
But this year Liverpool, famous for their late winners, are finding that lady luck has switched sides.
There seemed nothing on when Fulham took a short throw high up the pitch, but Reed thundered an effort into the net from fully 30m out.
The irony was not lost on Slot, who has had his team practicing defending long throws for the last few weeks after suffering in previous games when balls were catapulted into the box.
He said: “We’ve conceded from throw-ins and set pieces quite a lot this season, so we have a certain set-up which the players did. If the long throw came in, we had the box covered but it went short. You have to give credit to that incredible strike.” Bad luck or bad decision making? You have to be honest, either answer could be correct. But it summed up the way things are going against Liverpool this season, leading Slot to ask: “We scored two goals and had a header on the bar. There were things to like. Did we get what we deserved?” As for Fulham, they certainly got what they deserved after a lively and positive display.
Their manager Marco Silva said: “If we lost that game it would have been completely unfair for us. We scored a brilliant first goal and we deserved to lead at half-time. Then we conceded a weird equaliser and for 15 minutes they were better than us. But we reacted well and the equaliser was special.
“What a moment for Harrison. It was incredible. If someone deserves a moment like that, he is one of them. He’s been here six years and has not had has many games as he would like this season but he’s a great professional.” That, perhaps, is a sign that good luck eventually follows bad and hard work eventually wins rewards, no matter how badly things go wrong along the way.
It’s a belief system that Liverpool need to hang on to.
: Leno 6; Diop 6, Andersen 7, Cuenca 6; Castagne 6, Lukic 8 (Reed 92), Cairney 7 (Berge 73; 6), Robinson 8; Wilson 8 (Traore 85) Smith-Rowe 7 (Kevin 74); Jiminez 7 (Kusi-Asari 85) Unused subs: Lecomte, McNally, Ridgeon, Amissah, Traore.
: Alisson 6; Bradley 6, Konate 6, Van Dijk 6, Kerkez 6; Gravenberch 7, Jones 6 (Chiesa 85); Szoboszlai 7, Mac Allister 6, Wirtz 7 Unused subs: Gomez, Mamardashvili, Nguomoha, Nyoni, Ramsay, Robertson, Woodman.
: Craig Pawson Attendance: 27,547
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
