Liverpool They had a hard-fought victory, very difficult at times, against a Fulham team that was even ahead on the scoreboard. In the end, it was a 2-1 victory for the Reds in the semi-final first leg of the League Cup, and with the presence of the Colombian Luis Diaz.
Liverpool dreams of playing in the final of this tournament and took a very important step with this victory in the first leg and with the presence of Lucho, who started and played the 90 minutes.
Díaz did not have the opportunity to score, but he was very attentive in the attack and contributing to Liverpool's collective plays.
It was also with a comeback included, since the Brazilian Willian put the Londoners ahead in the 19th minute, before the locals turned the game around with the goals of Curtis Jones (68) and the Dutchman Cody Gakpo (71), in both cases with assists from the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, who had started as a substitute.
The return match will be played at Fulham's Craven Cottage stadium on Wednesday the 24th of this month.
The prize will be to play in the final on Sunday, February 25 at Wembley, against Middlesbrough (second division) or Chelsea, whose semi-final first leg ended on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory for the former.
Liverpool is still alive in four competitions. In addition to this League Cup, in the Premier League they are the leader after twenty rounds, in the Europa League they are qualified for the round of 16 and in the English Cup for the round of 32.
In this Wednesday's game, without the Egyptian Mohamed Salah for meeting his team for the African Cup and in which Jürgen Klopp rotated, at
Liverpool found it difficult to feel comfortable.
That initial goal from Fulham in the 20th did not help anything, with a loss of the ball by Virgil Van Dijk in favor of the Brazilian Andreas Pereira, who sent a pass in the area for his compatriot Willian, who got rid of the harassment of two rivals to accommodate himself. optimal shooting position and beat Irish goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
It was practically Fulham's only dangerous action before the break against a
Liverpool superior in the game but without firepower in attack. In the second half the script changed and, after several warnings, the tie came in the 68th minute, with a shot from outside the area by Curtis Jones, who had received from Darwin Núñez and whose shot touched the back of Tosin Adarabioyo before entering in the visiting goal.
Liverpool's second blow came just two minutes later, when Uruguayan Darwin Núñez sent a killer pass in the area that his teammate Cody Gakpo sent first into the Fulham net (2-1, 71).
In the 86th minute, German goalkeeper Bernd Leno limited the damage with a great intervention in a close-range shot by Darwin Núñez, who could not increase the score.
Liverpool before the second leg but that revolutionized the duel from its entry into the game in the 56th minute.
After a dizzying pace of matches, Liverpool will now have a ten-day break, until their visit to Bournemouth on Sunday the 21st on matchday 21 of the Premier League. Three days later will be the visit to Fulham, with the mission of finishing the work started this Wednesday.
AFP
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