The Tanner Report: Liverpool 2 Fulham 1
Fulham will not be too disappointed by either the result or performance and everything is still to play for in the return leg at Craven Cottage in a fortnight’s time.
Fulham took the lead thanks to the twinkling feet of Willian, who dribbled through the Reds’ defence and placed his shot between the legs of Virgil van Dyck.
The great difference between the big boys and a club like Fulham is the bench.
Fulham could not afford – nor justify Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo – on the bench but when they came off it they were game-changers.
It was Curtis Jones who equalised after a cruel deflection off Tosin then, with wind in their sails and the Kop in full voice, Gakpo scored the winner.
Fulham had a good chance when Bobby De Cordova-Reed should have squared the ball rather than shoot but it was in the end Bernd Leno’s capable keeping that prevented the home side from scoring more.
Although none of the team were around 12 years ago, except for Willian who was playing for Shaktar Donetsk, many of the 2,500 Fulham fans who travelled to Anfield will recall and be fortified by some of the inspiring second leg performances in the Europa Cup run, notably the defeat of Juventus.
