Premier League - Fulham hold Liverpool

Eurosport - Sat, 22 Nov 20:21:00 2008

A lacklustre Liverpool failed to exploit Chelsea's inability to beat Newcastle after they were held to a goalless Premier League draw by Fulham at Anfield.

FOOTBALL Liverpool Fulham Torres Pantsil - 0

A poor match mirrored Chelsea's own bore-draw with the Magpies and Liverpool stay second, behind Chelsea on goal-difference.

Liverpool lacked the injured Steven Gerrard and left Xabi Alonso on the bench and, as a result, were strangely subdued going forward.

Apart from Mark Schwarzer's superb save from Robbie Keane after the ball kindly deflected into the path of the Irishman off strike partner Fernando Torres, the hosts barely troubled the Cottagers with Keane in particular looking sluggish and Torres's keen running not matched by his shooting.

Keane's chance aside, the first half was Fulham's in terms of opportunities.

Andrew Johnson poked weakly at Reina when put through following a corner, while Jimmy Bullard forced consecutive saves from Pepe Reina, first with a sweet strike from the edge of the box and then with the subsequent corner.

Liverpool started the second half with more vigour and Torres forced Schwarzer to tip the ball behind after a smart run inside from the left wing.

The corner that followed caused the visitors some problems, although Dirk Kuyt could not convert at the far post.

The Dutchman had a superb chance to put his side ahead on 70 minutes when, after a good move that involved Alvaro Arbeloa and Albert Riera, he angled a rising drive to the top-right corner only to be denied by an excellent stop from Schwarzer.

Alonso was introduced for the sluggish Javier Mascherano and the Reds immediately upped the ante.

Kuyt, who started the match on the right wing, adopted a more advanced role and popped up on the left to send a shot flashing inches over the top right corner.

Liverpool started to control the game, as Ryan Babel came on and immediately sent a low drive just wide after leaving Clint Dempsey and John Pantsil for dead.

Reds boss Rafael Benitez surprisingly brought Kuyt off for young Frenchman Nabil El-Zhar, a relatively defensive move that tightened their formation but reduced their impact going forward.

Fabio Aurelio sent a low volley wide after Fulham failed to fully clear a corner and Alonso summed the match up when he sent a shot from the edge of the box into row Z.

Torres could have won it in the final minute but his shot was deflected over for a corner, and Fulham ran the clock down to hold on for an excellent draw that puts them ninth.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

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  1. alonso should play full time and bring babel instead keane....wat a wasting money buying those player like keane....its better benitez buying david villa....gillet...u should pour more money to spend on quality player.....

    From Teddy, on Sat 22 Nov 8:54PM

  2. so all the liverpool fans are typically banging on and on about how disappointed they are with this result. Get a life. You should try supporting a team like Fulham where there is always a risk of going down and where points against teams like Liverpool are seen as major successes. It's so very very easy for all you people easy to support Liverpool or Man U where successes come round like clockwork every season or two. Try supporting a lesser team like fulham where success is much less likely. anyway the lesser team did for you today, come on you Whites!"!"

    From familybowen@..., on Sat 22 Nov 8:16PM

  3. scfc for top 4 !!!!!!!!!!scouse win nowt

    From nlwarburton@..., on Sat 22 Nov 8:14PM

  4. this wasnt the same bore draw as the writter says!

    Chelsea pumped newcastle start to finish and should have and usually would have won with easse whereas liverpool game was a bore draw

    From yip, on Sat 22 Nov 8:00PM

  5. A 4-5-1 would have done the job... bringing keane in the midfield.

    R
    A C A A
    _.M L
    K...K...R
    __.T
    Lucas lacked the offensive ability! Perhaps a lack of competition as welll. Alonso should have replaced him.

    From ftsg, on Sat 22 Nov 7:55PM

  6. A 4-5-1 would have done the job... bringing keane in the midfield.

    R
    A C A A
    M L
    K K R
    T
    Lucas lacked the offensive ability! Perhaps a lack of competition as welll. Alonso should have replaced him.

    From ftsg, on Sat 22 Nov 7:53PM

  7. liverpool will never win the prem while the spanish waiter is manager he just cnt be trusted to not piss about with the team if the league is his priority as he says why drop alonso for the totally inept lucas lets face it benitez is a @#$% craigwise70 tell your mum and your nan my poodle said thanks the reflection on the window they were licking whilst he pleasured them said it all by the way is 8 years your mental age

    From tony, on Sat 22 Nov 7:43PM

  8. poor result, Lucas instead of Alonso??? What does Babel have to do to get a game. Shows how dependant we are on Stevie G. Look at the positives Chelski and Scum both dropped points as well. Marseille will be a tough one midweek, a win at Anfield and we can concentrate of the league for a bit. LFC rule

    From oz, on Sat 22 Nov 7:39PM

  9. unlucky liverpool there. im an arsenal supporter but always liked liverpool. i can sympathise with this bad result as lately we are doing so bad its painful to watch. i dont understand bentiez playin lucas in midfield cos every time i have seen him play he seems as bad at bendtner and well , thats saying something.... torres looks a bit off form but good luck next match but still well done fulham good to seem a side with potential rising into the top half.

    From scumyspurs, on Sat 22 Nov 7:03PM

  10. @tom h (3) No bogus penalty for us at Chelsea or Manchester United, yet all three points still came to Anfield.

    From clivewilliamson@..., on Sat 22 Nov 6:56PM

  11. no surprise there no gerrard to go down in the box late in the game so no goals 18yrs 18yrs 18yrs

    From craigwise70, on Sat 22 Nov 6:40PM

  12. hello my little f1 bum chums it marnio here from peru.
    mr hamiltons son say he stay with mclaren men for life. that nice for him but what do mclaren men say? you see mclaren is now german owned. the parent company is the mercedes benz which is the german. the engine is the german engine. everything about the team is the german. mr hamiltons son now the swiss gentleman he eat much cheese and sings in the morning at mountains. mr hamiltons father is also now the swiss man. in fact there nothing british about this team at all. even the man who tidy up the garage after the race has moved to switzerland with his mother. switzerland is owned by the german. my friends the whole team is GERMAN - and guess what - so is mr glock. now you see why the time stand still for mr glock on the last lap. like he in the time warp. not even the people abducted by the alien lose the amount of time he lost on that last lap. IT IS A DISGRACE!!!

    From , on Sat 22 Nov 6:38PM

  13. NO ALONSO WHEN STEVIE G IS OUT WTF I CAN MANAGE BETTER THAN HIM

    From GARETH, on Sat 22 Nov 6:23PM

  14. funny how there was every man.u and chelsea supporter posting comments about gerrard not playing on wednesday with injury and how he would be back on saturday!!!strangely i see cole,cole,lampard,ferdinand and rooney all play today,yet gerrard did not.therefore maybe they should not post comments in future on england injury until the weekend comes.

    From jolfc, on Sat 22 Nov 6:22PM

  15. we'll see united scum wen use r cryin an sittin just above the relegation zone in the next 2 years wen fergie crokes it

    From pauly, paolo, on Sat 22 Nov 5:53PM

  16. exactly what the redds dont need simple carelessnss like dat, not pleased at all with this result

    From hazel.smith60, on Sat 22 Nov 5:45PM

  17. jolf.c - Jealous of what? A team full of spicks and journey men? When was the last time you won the league sorry?

    From miniroll32, on Sat 22 Nov 5:42PM

  18. exactly , why no alonso? Lucas hasnt been playing much and is out of touch...that was a bad call by Rafa, Alonso would have controlled the midfield and created a few clear cut chances for sure.

    From mark, on Sat 22 Nov 5:36PM

  19. kwjibo are you a jealous man.utd supporter?

    From jolfc, on Sat 22 Nov 5:35PM

  20. Anybody understand why Alonso was left out? It makes no sense. Second goaless draw at home against lower sides is just not acceptable.

    WELL DONE FULHAM! YOU DESERVED IT!

    From londoncarl, on Sat 22 Nov 5:35PM
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