Liverpool, Dec 14 (IANS) Ten-man Liverpool rescued a point in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Fulham thanks to a late goal from the returning Diogo Jota in the Premier League 2024-25 at Anfield here on Saturday afternoon.
Andreas Pereira opened the scoring for the visitors in 11 minutes by acrobatically converting a deep cross at the back post following a counter-attack.
Andy Robertson was then shown a red card soon after having brought down Harry Wilson when the winger looked to break through on goal. Cody Gakpo drew the 10-men level shortly after half-time when he headed in Mohamed Salah’s cross at close range to give Arne Slot’s side hope; however, Rodrigo Muniz touched in a second for Fulham with 14 minutes of normal time remaining. Nevertheless, Jota came off the bench to sweep in an equaliser on his first appearance since October 20 to make sure Liverpool took something for their endeavours.
Fulham took the lead when Pereira stretched at the back post to hook in a centre from Antonee Robinson, finding the net via a deflection off Robertson in the 11th minute.
The start to the game would go from bad to worse for Liverpool when Robertson was shown a red card on 17 minutes after Wilson had pounced on his attempt to control a ball in behind and gone down under his attempt to recover.
A lengthy VAR check followed, but the punishment was allowed to stand, deeming the incident a denial of a goalscoring opportunity and leaving the Reds with plenty of work to do.
The Reds didn’t have to wait long to draw themselves level after the restart. Indeed, Gakpo dove to head in a sublime Salah delivery from the left inside the opening two minutes and equalise.
Fulham regained the lead with 14 minutes remaining when Muniz turned in Robinson’s cut-back from close range after a raid down the left.
The Reds pressed to find a second leveller and Nunez played a ball to Jota on the edge of the area, who side-stepped Jorge Cuenca and found the back of the net to tie the game and secure a point on the night.
–IANS
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