Liverpool 1-0 Fulham (Salah pen 39′)
The date 3 May is a day that holds great significance in the city of Liverpool, for rather varying reasons.
Liverpool’s famous comeback against AC Milan, where they summoned the “Spirit of Istanbul”, in the 2005 Champions League final was only made possible by Luis Garcia’s “ghost goal” against Chelsea on 3 May that year, while 12 months ago, Villarreal were disposed of at the Estadio El Madrigal to book yet another shot at Ol’ Big Ears.
On completely the opposite end of the happiness scale for Liverpudlians, Margaret Thatcher was appointed Prime Minister on 3 May, 1979.
This year, 3 May acted more as a reminder than anything else – that things can change very quickly in football.
Building on a thrilling win over Tottenham at the weekend was a must against Fulham, but this current incumbent remains a shadow of Liverpool teams of old, with Jurgen Klopp left with plenty to do to awaken this normally vengeful giant from its slumber, despite the narrowest of victories.
The history books suggested Fulham, punching above their weight all season, were a prime candidate to pull the plug on Liverpool’s recent revival, chasing their fourth successive win on Merseyside and second in a row at Anfield. A lively start from the visitors did little to dampen such fears, with Carlos Vinicius denied by a superb Alisson save early on.
The truth is, however, Fulham have long been on the beach, so much so they are in danger of leaving a permanent indent in the sand.
After Mohamed Salah sashayed past two defenders like a ballroom dancer and just clipped over the top, the Egyptian stroked home his 10th goal in his last 11 games from the penalty spot, to take the supposed declining talisman to 29 for the campaign.
From there on in, just as was the case at 3-0 up against Tottenham at the weekend, Liverpool should have been adding to their goal tally at will, with Fulham barely out of second gear, but in a further indication that for all their improvement of late they are still light years off those Champions League semi-final winners of old, they ended up hanging on for dear life in the dying embers of the match against a team with nothing to play for.
Even if, in reality, the top four may be out of reach, the main objective in these final games of the most disappointing campaign under Klopp is momentum going into next term.
Chasing a fifth successive win, against a team in holiday mode, to go the rest of the match without really testing Bernd Leno in the away goal is going to disrupt the flow, with more challenging tasks to come before the season is out.
Fulham in fact should have levelled late on, with Vinicius denied by another superb save from Alisson, with the Brazilian bailing his team out with some other timely interceptions.
The only way is up for Chelsea next season. Tottenham will surely get better with the right managerial appointment. Manchester United are on the rise, as are Arsenal. Challenging Manchester City will be a crowded field in 2023-24.
Green shoots of progress have pierced through the top soil in recent month for Liverpool, but that is all they remain – hope for something more to display. A big summer awaits, but before that, more of the weekend’s gusto is needed to give them a head start in what will be such a competitive race next season.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/8okGfxE
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