 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Home | This season | The LFC | LFC History | LFC Stats & Facts | LFC Euro & World | List All Match | The Derby | History LFC Shirts | LFC Collectables & Other | Hillsborough |
| Fulham 0 - 2 Liverpool | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
REDS
CLEAR IN FOURTH AFTER FULHAM WIN Liverpool have gone eight points clear in fourth place after goals from Jermaine Pennant and Peter Crouch gave them a comfortable 2-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday. The Reds have given themselves an almost unassailable lead over their city rivals Everton in the race for the fourth Champions League spot after Pennant opened the scoring in the first half before turning provider for Peter Crouch to seal the points in the second. Victory here was the perfect preparation for Liverpool ahead of their Champions League Semi Final with Chelsea, while defeat for Fulham leaves them perilously close to the relegation trap door. With Everton's defeat to Chelsea making the Reds' chances of finishing fourth much stronger, and their Champions League date with Avram Grant's side on the horizon, Rafa's team selection was of great interest today, not least to the sides struggling at the wrong end of the table. Given the importance of what's to come at Anfield on Tuesday there could be no question that Rafa was entitled to shuffle his pack here, and although he did make eight changes, Liverpool's line up was a strong one. There was no Gerrard or Torres, he was on the bench, but a notable inclusion was Javier Mascherano, who was returning from suspension. When we got underway it was the home side who made most of the early running, without really threatening a breakthrough. Roy Hodgson's side will have been buoyed by a first away win of the season over Reading in their last game, but while they passed it well at times, they lacked a cutting edge. There were no such problems for Liverpool and they almost scored with their very first attack when Crouch headed Pennant's cross narrowly wide. It was a sign that the Reds were warming to their task and they took a deserved lead in the 17th minute when Pennant netted his second goal of the season. The architect was Lucas Leiva, it was his incisive through pass that found Pennant in the right channel, and he accelerated into space before beating Keller with a fine shot into the top right hand corner from 12 yards. Liverpool now had a real foothold and they rarely looked like surrendering that in the remainder of a first half that was conspicuous by its lack of intensity, given Fulham's predicament. The Reds did continue to carry the greater threat and it took a goal-line clearance from Stalteri to prevent Riise from making it 2-0 in the 27th minute. The second half started where the first half left off, with Liverpool on top. They again came close to doubling their advantage in the 50th minute when Crouch's nod back almost reached Voronin in a goalscoring position, and when the ball did reach the Ukrainian just minutes later he was unlucky with an acrobatic overhead kick. It was all Liverpool and it seemed only a matter of time before they'd put the game to bed. With Fulham struggling to make inroads and the Reds in the mood, an eighth league away win and an almost unassailable lead over Everton beckoned. Things were going well, but history has shown that a single goal lead is never a secure one, particularly in the Premier League. And when Dempsey headed just wide in a random Fulham attack, Liverpool were given a sobering reminder that the job was not yet done. Dempsey's chance proved to be the wake up call Rafa's men needed and we were spared a nervous finish when goalscorer Pennant turned provider for Peter Crouch to make it 2-0 in the 70th minute. Pennant's ball inviting Crouch to shoot and he made it ten goals for the season with a shot that went in through Casey Keller's legs. Having secured the win Liverpool enjoyed a comfortable last quarter. This win means they have already equalled last season's points tally of 69 and they head into the familiar territory of a Champions League Semi Final in good shape. Teams Fulham: Keller, Konchesky, Hangeland, Hughes, Stalteri, Dempsey, Bullard, Murphy, Davies, Healy, McBride (c). Subs - Andreasen, Bocanegra, Kamara, Nevland, Warner. Liverpool: Reina, Riise, Hyypia (c), Skrtel, Finnan, Benayoun, Leiva, Mascherano, Pennant, Crouch, Voronin. Subs - Alonso, Aurelio, Carragher, Itandje, Torres. Referee: M Atkinson Conditions: Unavailable Attendance: Unavailable Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Jermaine Pennant Breakdown 14:00 GMT : Match Starts 1 min : Liverpool get the game underway 2 mins : McBride has gone down injured after clashing with captain Sami 2 mins : The travelling Kop are bouncing during this interlude 3 mins : Dempsey gets away from Masch and the Argentine brings him down - Reina saves from Hangeland from the resulting free-kick 4 mins : Brilliant tackle from Skrtel with Healy apparently clean through...the Slovak then brings him down near the corner flag. Good start from Fulham 7 mins : Now Dempsey is through....Finnan does well 8 mins : Really sloppy opening from Liverpool's point of view 9 mins : Davies is taking on Riise...gets his cross in...Sami clears 10 mins : Awful tackle from Murphy on Masch 11 mins : No pace. We have no pace 12 mins : Dempsey robs Pennant...free-kick...JP got lucky there 13 mins : Bullard dispossesses Finnan. Get your act together Redmen 13 mins : Dempsey sends a high ball into the box...Reina collects 14 mins : Great cross from Pennant...Crouch is there...wide 16 mins : Crouch is getting some jip after trying a trick and losing it to the excellent Dempsey 17 mins : GOAL! Jermaine Pennant: Brilliant throughball by Lucas and Pennant stuns Craven Cottage (including the travelling Kop) with a belting finish into the top corner 20 mins : Riise tries a low drive from 40 yards...that's wider than the Mersey John Arne 22 mins : Great ingenuity from Yossi...equally good run from Lucas down the left...corner 24 mins : Absolutely first-class tackle from Sami. He has been brilliant so far 25 mins : Liverpool are suddenly playing like Brazil. Well, maybe not Brazil. 26 mins : That man Sami clears again after Finnan loses possession 27 mins : Anything you can do...Great tackle by Skrtel. Sorry is this is a bit samey, but Liverpool's tackling has been unbelievable today 28 mins : Pennant free down the right...great low cross...too far for Crouch but Riise might get there...the angle's tight...oh great block from Stalteri 28 mins : Chance for Crouch...no power 29 mins : Fulham have a free kick in a dangerous area...Bullard takes...McBride gets contact...it's back in...surely Hangeland will score...wide 30 mins : Voronin, Pennant, Skrtel and Hyypia all playing really well 33 mins : I can confirm that David Fairclough is among the travelling Kop with his son, and he's just texted to say he is bouncing. Well in, Dave 34 mins : Brilliant control from JP...cuts back to Andriy...oh that's nowhere near 41 mins : Nice Liverpool move...but that's a poor ball from Lucas 42 mins : The Liverpool fans have their scalves out...they're singing YNWA 43 mins : Andriy smashes one but it's well askew 44 mins : The home supporters are starting to get on Danny Murphy's back 44 mins : Andriy getting some treatment 44 mins : Worst food in the Premiership here, by the way 44 mins : Fulham corner...Hyypia gets his head on it...drops to Healy but that's an easy take for Reina 14:46 GMT : Half Time Reached 15:03 GMT : Second Half Begins 46 mins : Substitution: Jamie Carragher for Sami Hyypia: 46 mins : Fulham kick off. I'd imagine Sami has been brought off for a rest...more news if and when we get it 47 mins : Great tackle by Masch but he's down in agony after making contact with Lucas 48 mins : Physio Rob Price gives the thumbs up 49 mins : Voronin mugs Murphy...Dempsey mugs Voronin 50 mins : Riise penalised for a high foot 51 mins : Nice ball from Voronin to Riise out left...Riise uses Benayoun's overlap to find space...crosses to Crouch...the big man heads back across goal but the whistle goes. Voronin had fouled Keller 53 mins : Liverpool corner after nice one-two between Masch and Lucas...JP to take...Skrtel flicks it on...Voronin with an overhead kick...close but no cigar 55 mins : Expert sliding tackle from Masch 56 mins : JP volleys into the box...Yossi's just can't direct it towards goal 60 mins : This game's here for the taking 60 mins : Lucas turns his man a treat...oh that's great block to stop Yossi 61 mins : Davies swings one in to the back post...McBride just can't do anything with it 64 mins : Great chance from Dempsey...heads wide...would have been chalked off anyway - though God knows why. Never offside that 67 mins : Masch bursting through the Fulham midfield. Cynical challenge from behind by Healy 67 mins : First Booking: David Healy: 68 mins : Lovely backheel from Yossi 68 mins : Voronin shoots from distance...that's easy for Reina 69 mins : Healy does really well to get the cross in but Dempsey doesn't test Reina 70 mins : GOAL! Peter Crouch: Pennant feeds Crouch in the box and the big man finds a way through Keller's legs 72 mins : Substitution: Xabi Alonso for Javier Mascherano: 75 mins : That's a class save from Reina to stop Murphy 76 mins : Substitution: Erik Nevland for David Healy: 78 mins : Substitution: Leon Andreasen for Danny Murphy: 79 mins : The Liverpool fans are singing Super Danny Murphy... 80 mins : Good fist away from Pepe 80 mins : Fulham are rubbish. Fact. 81 mins : JP has a pop...over the bar 81 mins : Substitution: Diomansy Kamara for Brian McBride: 82 mins : Carra clears for a corner... 82 mins : Substitution: Fabio Aurelio for Andriy Voronin: 83 mins : Reina punches the corner away 83 mins : Danny Murphy is doing a warm down on an exercise bike. He didn't have to do that at Anfield 85 mins : JP looks well hurt 86 mins : He's going to have to hobble on, I'm afraid 86 mins : Riise flicks on to Crouchie...it smacks him right in the face. Quite funny, that 87 mins : They're still bouncing 89 mins : It's like a training session for the Reds now 89 mins : Crouch smacks one from 30 yards...not bad 90 mins : Great save by Reina from Nevland but it was offside anyway 15:51 GMT : Match Over Copyright of Official Site Liverpool FC |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Price: J3,00