Premier League - Fulham down Liverpool

Eurosport - Sat, 31 Oct 15:19:00 2009

Liverpool slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Fulham as they followed up their win over Manchester United with a fifth loss in 11 Premier League matches.

Bobby Zamora - Fulham - 0

With the Reds already struggling with injury and illness, Fernando Torres - who scored a first-half equaliser - limped off injured, while Jamie Carragher and Philipp Degen were shown straight red cards to plunge Liverpool into a defensive crisis and nine points behind Chelsea.

Bobby Zamora put the hosts ahead 23 minutes in but Liverpool dominated possession and Torres equalised before half-time.

But, after Torres went off, substitute Erik Nevland back-heeled the Whites in front and, when Degen was harshly dismissed and Carragher sent off for a professional foul, Clint Dempsey extended the lead late on.

Liverpool dominated the first half but a relatively slow tempo suited Fulham and meant the Reds created fewer chances than their possession warranted.

They had one great chance on 21 minutes when Yossi Benayoun rattled the crossbar after he was found on the left by a Dirk Kuyt cross, but otherwise Liverpool were limited to long-range efforts and some hairy moments for Mark Schwarzer, who elected to punch straightforward centres when catching was an option.

Fulham were tentative and conservative, barely leaving their half and toiling in possession.

But they took the lead midway through the half when, against the run of play, Damien Duff's mishit cross was allowed to fall to the unmarked Zamora, who tapped the ball into the bottom right.

While they initially seemed surprised at conceding, Liverpool did not panic and continued to pass patiently looking for an opening.

It was a direct approach, however, that yielded results.

A hopeful high ball was headed hopefully on by Andriy Voronin on the edge of the D, and bounced up off the chest of the unlucky Aaron Hughes, dropping to Torres who rifled an unstoppable snap-shot into the bottom left corner to level with two minutes of the half remaining.

The second half started in a similar fashion to the first, slow and patient with few clear-cut chances, although Fulham had more of the ball.

With Duff and Diomansy Kamara off injured at the break, though, the Whites seemed to have lost two of their most potent attacking threats.

Zamora had a penalty appeal rejected when he ran through but went down under pressure from Carragher, although there did not seem to be contact as both players fell.

With an eye on next week's must-win Champions League clash at Lyon, Rafael Benitez took off Torres for Ryan Babel as the Spaniard as struggled with a thigh strain.

Following Torres's exit, Liverpool struggled to keep the ball up front, Fulham sensed an opportunity and they took it soon afterwards.

Kuyt pointlessly slid across to keep the ball in play, which merely allowed Paul Konchesky to cross from the left. Reina could only palm the ball to Zoltan Gera who, stooping at the far post, nodded the ball across to Nevland who flicked an audacious finish past the keeper.

This went from bad to worse when Degen, impressive in place of the injured Glen Johnson, was given his marching orders for a late tackle on Dempsey that arguably only warranted a caution.

That was on 79 minutes and 120 seconds later Carragher joined him, although it took him almost a minute to leave the pitch after he hauled down Zamora after letting the Fulham striker bustle past.

Dempsey sealed the win from close range after a slick move involving Zamora and Nevland as Liverpool were left with yet another loss, two defensive suspensions and concerns over the fitness of Torres to add to those on absent captain Steven Gerrard.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

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  1. without Agger, with Kyrgiakos there's no chance!

    From damnsoldja, on Sun 1 Nov 3:06PM

  2. i'm not a liverpool fan, but i still feel­ ther's enough quality to get them out of this mess.­ but if they insist on losing games, that's ok by­ me. chelsea rules!

    From oloyeoworu, on Sun 1 Nov 2:05PM

  3. come on lyon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From M S, on Sun 1 Nov 1:43PM

  4. Anyone noticed that at this rate, Liverpool at the end­ of the season will have 17 losses...

    From Sam D, on Sun 1 Nov 12:58PM

  5. Man u fans can gloat all they like over liverpools bad­ results but if they take a good look at themselves they­ would realise they arent half the team chelsea are this­ season.

    From NORRIE, on Sun 1 Nov 12:22PM

  6. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP

    WATCH ALL MATCHES ON­ INTERNET: PREMIER LEAGUE, FA CUP, CHAMPIONSHIP,­ CARLING CUP, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA, LIGUE 1,­ CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, EUROPA LEAGUE, QUALIFICATION WORLD­ CUP 2010, BRASILERAO, EREDIVISIE AND MUCH MORE

    ALL­ THE HIGH_LIGHTS OF PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES

    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Sun 1 Nov 12:13PM

  7. well done fulham scum down

    From Philip, on Sun 1 Nov 12:00PM

  8. cheer up you Scouse Rats!!!..pucker up,its only­ Halloween!!..life's a beach ball­ indeed!!!..hahahahahaha.....C'MON Lyon,spank­ em!!..cherio..ole..ole..ole..
    what a lovely day,made­ lovely!!..bye bye..

    From Kop Scouse Rats,are a Filthy Bin Dippers...., on Sun 1 Nov 11:37AM

  9. the fat controllers arse is almost on the bacon slicer

    From lorna, on Sun 1 Nov 11:32AM

  10. Chrls79M'UTD4life, No-one cares what u think.­ Your just a sad fat geek who sits at your pc, day in­ day out, that talks pure nonsense and everyone knows­ it. Your just embarressing yourself everytime u speak.

    From Howard, on Sun 1 Nov 11:29AM

  11. Chrls79M'UTD4life, Please go and see a doctor,­ I think you have issues !

    From Andrew, on Sun 1 Nov 11:27AM

  12. This report is about as far away from the facts as it­ can be! Was the autor even at the game???

    From MARK, on Sun 1 Nov 11:27AM

  13. rafa out, mourinho/ hiddink in. any supporter that­ thinks otherwise is a fukkkin idiot. I watched that­ game yesterday and by his substitutions, u can see­ he's losing the respect of his players and thats no­ even taking into account his awful match results.­ He's gerrard houllier in disguise.

    From Howard, on Sun 1 Nov 11:26AM

  14. Lfc got spooked by Halloween Horror night @ Wes Craven­ Cottage!!..seeing the match,i was­ deliriously/SADISTICALLY jumping for joy seeing those­ 'Scouse Rats' succomb & mortified/dissected­ during the last 15 minutes,like knife through­ butter..the expressions given by their playes &­ fans alike,was PRICELESS!!!..WHAT JOY IT BRINGS!!..
    Mr­ Fat Spanish P.rick was a complete t.wat to contemplate­ his very own downfall w his mindless tactical­ strategy!!!..what Madness!!!..fyi,WE COULDNT CARE­ LESS...
    RETRIBUTION & REDEMPTION IS­ JUSTIFIED!!!...THE BEGINNING OF THE END!!...
    5 league­ defeats,2 Ucl defeats & 1 league cup defeats=a­ RECIPE FOR DISASTER..rejoiced..

    P:S..
    dont blame the­ players,dont blame the Yanks but
    BLAME THAT­ INCOMPETENT 'FAT SPANISH PLONKER',
    you called­ 'In Rafa we trust' & STICK BY IT cos­ 'YOU'LL NEVER WIN ANYTHING'
    AS WE WON­ F.UCK ALL,YEAR IN & YEAR OUT!!..STAMPED..CHOKED ON­ THAT...

    From Kop Scouse Rats,are a Filthy Bin Dippers...., on Sun 1 Nov 11:13AM

  15. I consider myself a life long Liverpool fan but I'm­ sick of hearing the same line from the managers mouth­ "It's a question of taking your chances when­ you create them" so how much longer will it take­ him to realize he needs to buy another striker and not­ some sick, injuried 20m player that will only be ready­ when the season is over.

    From alpsports, on Sun 1 Nov 10:50AM

  16. also one more thing could foeyp darren m and kop mania­ also torres76 and miss torres also show up so they can­ take there punishment cos i sure as hell did when you­ beat us or are you all on a yachting holiday in somalia­ lol no need to hide people come on and face the­ truth.that were your cup final and nothing else matters

    From the-man-with-no-name, on Sun 1 Nov 10:47AM

  17. in my opinion this shows liverpools season and giving­ there fans some joy is based around beating united­ there cup final of the year .how sad and pathetic that­ is that the players and management and fans can get­ fully pumped up and focused for us but not do the same­ for the rest of the season and as for your squad you­ will find its the same one as last year minus alonso­ and you werent calling lucas ngog insua etc then were­ you .all i can say is if that is what liverpool have­ become we will willingly give you the points every­ season as long as you get pumped up and focused for­ chelsea and arsenal too cos there are main contenders­ but you lot will never be with the attitude your­ players and manager shows for you the fans

    From the-man-with-no-name, on Sun 1 Nov 10:44AM

  18. From the look of things, Benitez will soon be working­ alone. He destroyed the gains he made over the previous­ seasons in just one season. His problems started when­ he got Fernando Torres. He forgot that it takes more­ than a player to make a side. He was grinning from ear­ to ear for his big catch and he let this got to the way­ he related to the other players. Off went Crouch,­ Robbie Keane was no good and Kuyt had to become a­ winger. I had suspected his pedigree by the way he­ dismantled the CL winning side of 2005 and brought in­ his own boys as replacement, but things seemed to be­ working for him until he decided to do away with­ Alonso. That was the final straw that broke his camel­ back. I think he would be out fo job very soon as they­ will fail to qualify for the knock out stage of the CL.

    From yomia, on Sun 1 Nov 10:34AM

  19. DEAR LORD

    I WANT LIVERPOOL TO KEEP BENITEZ, HICKS,­­ GILLET, VORONIN AND LUCAS
    I ALSO WANT TO SEE BENITEZ­­ KEEP ON SUB-BING TORRES GERRAD KUYT AND BENAYOUN
    I­ HOPE­ YOU CAN GET THEM RELEGATED IN ANOTHER 2 YEARS­­ TIME

    AMIN

    From afif s, on Sun 1 Nov 10:15AM

  20. Not sure whether the game was a Halloween horror show­ or an early start to the pantomine season. Whichever­ it was, we can say ta-ta to the number one spot now. ­ Time we said ta-ta to Benitez as well, so far as­ I'm concerned.

    From DON H, on Sun 1 Nov 10:05AM
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