Mané 26'
Babel 74'
Milner 81' [pen]
And breathe.
Good lord. I cannot believe Liverpool have gotten away with that.
The narrative was perfect. Just perfect. You couldn't write it better. And somehow, it doesn't come to fruition.
We start with the same old problems seen in basically every away match of 2019 except Wednesday. West Ham, United, Everton all over again. A mountain of possession, another deep defense that Liverpool strains to get past. Even when Liverpool open the scoring midway through the first half, unsurprisingly through Sadio Mané, with his 11th goal in the last 11 games.
But they don't get two. What looked certain to be a thorough whooping after 30 minutes looks a 1-0 grind at best by 60 minutes. Both pace and passing tail off as opportunities dwindle. Crosses and corners aren't finding Liverpool's players, and those are what Liverpool increasingly turn to. Firmino and Salah are particularly off-color, the former struggling to link up with his line-mates and the latter tackled in the final third time and time again.
Still, it's probably going to be okay, because the opposition ain't gotten shit going forward.
Until they do.
To be slightly fairer to Fulham, it felt possible for ten or so minutes before the goal, the home side starting to actually unsettle Liverpool. It felt more Liverpool complacency than anything else, but Sessegnon for Seri gives also Fulham another threat. Fulham have the ball in Liverpool's goal in the 65th minute, a counter-attack following Firmino's sloppy pass in the final third ending with Anguissa's shot redirected home by an offside Ayite, who then has a fast break shot blocked by Lallana.
But Liverpool steadies. And then Liverpool just absolutely Liverpools.
Milner, just on a substitute, hacks a Sergio Rico goal kick up and behind. A goal kick which came from Sadio Mané hitting the crossbar. Van Dijk leaves it for Alisson, who leaves it for van Dijk. Whose header back to Alisson is soft and with back spin and falls instead to Ryan Babel for a tap-in.
Let's go through that again. James Milner, Liverpool's most experienced player and one of the few title-winners in the squad. Virgil van Dijk, who we all rightfully called the best center-back in the world just three days ago. Alisson, who's literally saved Liverpool, the position Liverpool have had the most problem with for years.
And Ryan Babel, ex-Liverpool player and punchline, now a kitchen-sink option mercenary for a team near-certain to be relegated.
Oh, yeah, and Liverpool did this against the 19th-placed side in the division, on their third manager of the season, who'd lost ten of their last 11 matches, who'd only taken two points off top-ten sides: a draw against Watford back in September and dawn with Leicester in early December.
While smack in the middle of a title race where their competition just does not stop winning.
*chef kissing fingers emoji*
But then Liverpool go and ruin it less than seven minutes after Fulham's equalizer. Salah's into the box and gets it wrong again, his shot straight at Sergio Rico, but Rico palms it down rather than catches, Mané steals in, and Rico hugs Mané to the ground. And Milner, who'd started the calamity seven minutes earlier, absolutely nails the penalty down the middle. And we're done here, with Salah still somehow unable to score, a couple of efforts off-target and a clear-cut chance too close to Sergio Rico.
So, yeah. It is hard to think anything other than this is a different season than all the seasons before. A different Liverpool. A Liverpool that doesn't 4-4 with Arsenal or slip against Chelsea. It was not good and it doesn't really bode well and there are still those regrettable draws over the last two months but Liverpool still won and Liverpool go into the international break atop the league by two points.
There are still seven games left to break our hearts. Manchester City is only behind on games played, and can break said hearts through no further fault of Liverpool.
No matter. Ride the fortune as long as it'll last. And continue to believe that the best remains possible.
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