FULHAM 2 – 2 LIVERPOOL
Fulham: Wilson 17’, Reed 90+7’
Liverpool: Wirtz 57’, Gakpo 90+4’
Pre-Match
Thursday’s draw to kick off 2026 against Leeds United is hanging heavy around the Liverpool men visiting Craven Cottage on Sunday. Though we’re still on an unbeaten streak, the goalless result on New Year’s Day was not what anyone wanted. Fulham may be a tough challenge, despite their most recent result also being a draw against Crystal Palace. We’ll simply be hoping that they come out to play instead of overrunning our midfield
and pinning everyone too wide to make some chance in the final third. Hugo Ekitike, you may be our only hope. (He won’t be, he’s also injured).
First Half
Kick off was delayed for fifteen minutes due to a medical emergency in the ground, so the anticipation is a little more compounded, but we finally get underway. Fulham have control early on, but as they do Liverpool win back possession to keep an early mistake at bay. Without Ekitike we potentially have Florian Wirtz in a false nine position, his preferred position to be fair, and hopes are high it’ll get us somewhere. Liverpool have a chance in the first five minutes as Cody Gakpo gets on the ball and sends towards goal but Bernd Leno deflects the shot wide. Dominik Szoboszlai is also back in midfield, so hopefully being able to focus on one true forward is an advantage for us.
Cody is getting more of the ball for better or worse in these opening minutes, and he is even put through clear on goal, unable to control the ball, and sends a shot wide. Liverpool regain possession, again, and do their ponderous passing as they let Fulham set up against them. We have had 25 passes in the final third in just 14 minutes, and yet not a goal to show for it. What are we doing? It feels like that Simpsons joke about the World Cup. Fulham win a corner and there is a brief moment when it appears we’ve packed the box without actually protecting any space. Liverpool are caught out not long after, when Harry Wilson is released by Raul Jimenez and the former Liverpool player scores in emphatic fashion before immediately being called offside. VAR takes some time to check, and the goal is given, Fulham lead. Harry Wilson still only scores bangers.
How is anyone else writing about this? We keep getting the ball and doing nothing with it. We can’t win without scoring goals, and we certainly can’t keep the ball from the other team. It just patently doesn’t work. It’s like 2014-2015 all over again. We have another chance in the final third, but a lack of confident decision making means we carry the ball this close to goal and do jack shit with it. Fulham capitalize on the mistakes, moving back towards our goal and we scramble to get some sort of control back. We’re hardly half an hour in and now we are on the back foot, trying to keep Fulham from another goal, overworking ourselves in the efforts. We look stringy and vulnerable and they know it. We finally get even closer to goal and Wirtz gets the ball to Curtis Jones, who tries to do some kind of cute back pass and ends up losing it anyway. We get a corner but the ball goes right to Castagne, just before we actually somehow get set up in a good way, Szoboszlai sends a cross to Gakpo, the Dutchman gets a head on it… and it hits the post. And we still have 15 minutes left.
How do you not blame the coach at this point? The players have to be doing what they’re told and it’s just not working. When do they openly rebel and play in a way that we know works? We’ve had four shots, but none of them have been on target. Something has to give at this point, because it feels like the definition of insanity watching this team play this way. Another corner in the 40th minute, goes into the scrum and Fulham handle it easily, and the cycle starts again. There’s two added minutes in the half, Liverpool are caught out once again as Fulham get in front of Alisson, and we scramble to find a solution. Rinse and repeat, we get into the final third and apparently have no idea how to get into good positions that end up in goal.
Second Half
The second half gets underway and no changes were made and Jones goes down briefly after taking a knee to the back but play resumes enough to actually get in front of the goal, Gakpo finally found the net – only to be ruled quickly offside. So it goes.
Liverpool win a free kick in a good spot in the 50th minute and Szoboszlai lines it up, looking for a moment of magic to find an equalizer similar to earlier in the season. He takes the shot and it goes high and wide. This writer is trying to be more zen but the expletives that are being kept from being written are colorful. We keep the ball in the final third, unable to find a way around Fulham, but win another corner that Szoboszlai steps up to take, gets into the scrum, and get some heads on it but it ultimately goes back out for another corner that is taken poorly. The frustration is starting to show on the players, and it’s about time honestly, but the mistakes lead to the other end of the park where we’re put under pressure again, and thankfully Harry Wilson does not score another banger.
Another offside goal as Wirtz carries the ball into traffic and actually shows his skills with getting out of the jam and scoring, the flag goes up and VAR takes a look, but the RULING IS OVERTURNED AND WE HAVE AN EQUALIZER! VAR finally cut us a break and Florian has his second goal of the season! Hopefully it injects some life into this fading team, as the second half gets back underway. We are finally trying to test Bernd Leno although the urgency seems to be fizzling back out. We are back to not supporting each other and getting into the right spaces to open up passing lanes, but somehow Gakpo gets another shot off that goes wide. At least the traveling fans are in full voice.
Liverpool open up slightly and get forward again, with Szoboszlai charging down the right but it ends in another corner that doesn’t go anywhere once again. Gakpo gets on it but comes too close and instead of shooting around Leno, hits the side of the goal, and rinse and repeat. Gakpo can’t buy a goal at this point and poor Chiesa is sitting there on the bench, looking perpetually surprised that we could be playing like this and he is sitting there. We approach the 70th minute and Harry Wilson actually earns a yellow card for toppling over Conor Bradley. It doesn’t take long for Fulham to turn around and get back in front of Alisson, with Wilson shooting quickly but sending it high for a corner. The hosts make the first changes of the match, which seems to encourage Slot to make his first changes of the match, with Jeremie Frimpong preparing to come on for Wirtz. The change comes not at all too soon as we continue to search for a winner, although without much moxie.
We are now roughly ten minutes from full time and we look no closer to a second goal than we ever did. Slot makes another change in the 85th minute, with Federico Chiesa finally coming on for Curtis Jones, so sure. Why not. It’s now the last seven minutes (thanks to that VAR check and the subs) and we appear to realize “oh, we can win this” and start trying to throw the kitchen sink at the goal, again with little success.
OH THERE IT IS! CODY GAKPO FINDS THE NET AND SCORES A WINNER! Jeremie Frimpong with the assist! The joy is short lived as Fulham take advantage of the elation and turn around and equalize themselves, and the win slips through our fingers.
Final Thoughts
We actually didn’t lose, but letting the lead slip away late once again – even if we didn’t deserve it – is just as disappointing. There is something fundamentally broken with our system and if losses didn’t fix it, what will? We can’t meet Arsenal next week like this.
