In the Anfield leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, Liverpool should have defeated Fulham by a margin more than one goal, but for a considerable amount of time, it appeared like scoring a goal would be difficult. However, the entry of Darwin Núñez to support Curtis Jones and later Cody Gakpo altered the outcome of the tie.
Although Marco Silva was probably correct to think that Liverpool needed a little “luck” to tie the score, the dynamics of play had shifted in the second half. As the pressure increased and Fulham’s counterattacking threat diminished, an equalizer for the Reds appeared inevitable.Although Willian’s effort here was one that the Reds’ defense will not remember favorably, Liverpool will want to avoid having to come back from a goal down too frequently. However, the fact that Jürgen Klopp’s team was able to fight back and win may be seen as a plus. Once again, the German bench was decisive.
The goal after the first ninety minutes was to be to maintain the lead for the Reds going into their match against Craven Cottage in two weeks. Here are some things you could have missed at Anfield and what Liverpool.com discovered.
Ryan Gravenberch, who signed in the summer for a reported $44 million (£34 million/€40 million), is unquestionably a top-tier player, but it may take some time before we see that consistently. The former Ajax and Bayern Munich midfielder hasn’t been too good in a Liverpool shirt thus far.
After the first 90 minutes, the plan was to keep the Reds ahead heading into their two-week meeting against Craven Cottage. These are some things Liverpool.com found at Anfield that you might have missed.
There are plenty of times when he appears overly fragile, but there are also several excellent spins that nearly pay off and line-breaking passes that demonstrate his potential. In this match, he only won two out of twelve duels; he seemed to be overwhelmed in the midst and struggled to handle sudden pressure.
Gravenberch is not the only player who has taken some time to get acclimated to playing in a midfield for Liverpool; last summer, he was not given the opportunity to fully prepare for the demands of Klopp’s system. Although it might take some time, the raw components are there and there’s no reason to think they can’t come together at some point in the upcoming months.
Even after Liverpool fell behind by a goal once more, a comeback always seemed plausible. Even when Klopp’s team was struggling, Fulham would never have felt at ease since the Reds have done it so frequently this season.
Darwin Núñez and Cody Gakpo were the ones who turned things around this time; in the past, it was usually Harvey Elliott or someone else who made the difference. This is not the first time this season that this club has come back from a challenging position to win.
Naturally, it would be preferable to succeed right away rather than have to learn the hard way. This season, there may even come a time when overcoming a first-half deficit proves to be too difficult. But mentality monsters are made of overcoming hardship, and this Liverpool team has proven that it is capable of rising above even the most unlikely circumstances.
