LFC Toronto Match Review: Fulham 2-2 Liverpool

Last weekend, Liverpool won the Community Shield for the first time since 2006.

This weekend, Liverpool drew the opening league match against a newly promoted side for the first time since
2006.

A 1-1 at Sheffield United back in August 2006 was highlighted by the return of prodigal son Robbie Fowler who
converted a penalty to secure one point for the Reds.

Against Fulham on Saturday, Liverpool similarly needed the grit of a new signing to salvage one point. Until
Darwin Nunez’s introduction in the 51 st minute, the Reds were uncharacteristically below par, especially when
compared to the hunger they displayed during the 3-1 win against Man City in the Community Shield.
But for the first league match of the season, it was more like Fulham who had such hunger. Understandably
buoyed by their return to the top echelon, the Cottagers bolted out of the starting gate and took the game to
Liverpool who surprisingly found it difficult to deal with the Londoners’ initiatives.

So much so that we had to wait for the 15th minute to see the first meaningful Liverpool’s foray in Fulham’s
penalty box: Luis Diaz actually curled the ball into the net but Andy Robertson was offside during the build-up.
However, on the run of play, it was still no surprise when Fulham opened the score in the 32nd minute.
Aleksandar Mitrovic caught Trent Alexander-Arnold by surprise as he leaped higher than the Reds right-back to
head a cross ball into the net.

With Liverpool now mostly in chasing mode, half-time couldn’t come soon enough. A Jurgen pep talk was
greatly needed in order to figure out how to deal with a Fulham which was very enterprising while attacking but
also made themselves a very compact side while defending.

Throwing in new signing Nunez was obviously the most favoured option to break down the Cottagers’ defense
and it didn’t take long to see the Uruguayan replace Bobby Firmino during the initial stages of the second half.
As in the Community Shield, the Nunez impact was immediate.

First, he tried a close-range deft flick with his right boot that was blocked by the Fulham keeper. However, this
was merely a rehearsal of things to come as he repeated the same outrageous Firmino-esque right boot flick on a
Mo Salah cross and scored this time. This must be a South American thing but the audacity of such move is
simply something for us to admire.

Liverpool now looked more like their usual self as they kept knocking at the door. However, Fulham took a 2-1
lead, but now against the run of play, when Mitrovic was awarded a penalty. A very soft penalty as Virgil Van
Dijk’s outstretched leg barely made contact with the Serbian before the latter decided to tumble over. Liverpool
supporters must be feeling incredulous that VAR still ruled that as a penalty.

Liverpool were once again chasing the game. But this was the opening match of the new season and it can only
mean one thing: high time for Mo Salah to score. The Egyptian King tapped in from close range for 2-2 as
Nunez returned the compliment with an assist.

Mike Chung
LFC Toronto Member
YNWA