Gakpo and Nunez provide bench impact as Liverpool edge Fulham
LIVERPOOL 2 FULHAM 1
Jurgen Klopp may be without his immaculate striker Mo Salah this month but, for last night in this Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at least, the Liverpool manager showed he has more than enough firepower to prosper in his absence.
A goal down and the tie seemingly edging in favour of the underdog visitors, Klopp threw on Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo as second-half impact substitutes and they duly delivered, with two goals in three minutes.
On 68 minutes, Diogo Jota won a challenge in midfield, helping the ball on to Nunez who, in turn, found Curtis Jones whose 20-yard strike flew in, via an unkind deflection off the back of Tosin Adarabioyo.
And just three minutes later, Jota again sparked the move, with a ball to Nunez that was turned in clinically at the near-post by Gakpo.
The tie could have been all but decided, well ahead of the second leg in two weeks’ time, but for three good Bernd Leno saves, all from Nunez.
But Fulham showed enough glimpses over this first 90 minutes to suggest Liverpool’s Final place, against Chelsea or Middlesbrough, is far from guaranteed.
Indeed, if the League Cup semis were unchartered territory for Fulham - and they are - and if Marco Silva’s team was still smarting from their last visit to Anfield, there was little evidence of an inferiority complex as they took a first-half lead.
They had to survive a lively opening from the hosts and a couple of careless moments at the back but when Liverpool themselves made defensive errors, Willian struck.
The opening 19th minute goal came from a collector’s item - a mistake from Virgil van Dijk who misjudged a routine clearance and mis-headed it for Andreas Pereira to run onto.
He pushed the ball to Willian, who beat a
Read on irishexaminer.com
