Late Diogo Jota Goal for 10-Man Liverpool Salvages Draw Against Fulham
LIVERPOOL, England, Dec 14 – Liverpool’s Diogo Jota bagged a last-gasp equaliser to snatch a 2-2 draw for the 10-man Premier League leaders on Dec 14, with Arne Slot’s Reds twice roaring back from a goal down at Anfield.
Liverpool remain at the top of the table with 36 points, five ahead of Chelsea, who host Brentford on Dec 15, and six in front of Arsenal, who played to a 0-0 home draw against Everton and have played one game more. Fulham currently sits ninth with 24 points.
Andreas Pereira set the tone for Fulham, putting them ahead in the 11th minute with an acrobatic volley from Antonee Robinson’s cross, which took a deflection off Liverpool full-back Andy Robertson’s thigh before finding the back of the net past goalkeeper Alisson.
Robertson had a challenging afternoon, as he was shown a red card just six minutes later for a lunging tackle on Harry Wilson that denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Cody Gakpo drew Liverpool level just two minutes after the break with a diving header from Mohamed Salah’s exquisite cross. However, Rodrigo Muniz restored Fulham’s lead in the 76th minute when he bundled home Robinson’s cross while crashing into Alisson.
Despite being a man down, Liverpool continued to press hard for an equaliser. Jota, making his first appearance since an injury in October against Chelsea, found the net in the 86th minute, slotting the ball past Bernd Leno and ensuring Liverpool came away with a point, avoiding what would have been only a second loss for Slot in 23 games across all competitions.
The tension ramped up in the closing minutes, with the Reds creating several chances to secure a winner in front of an electrifying Anfield crowd. Harvey Elliott came close with a shot that flew narrowly wide, and Luis Diaz saw an effort sail just over the bar.
The match was notably intense, with a total of seven yellow cards issued. A couple of these offenses had the usually composed Slot visibly frustrated, leading to displeasure from the Anfield faithful who booed the officials at full-time.
“I don’t think I could’ve asked for more from my players, especially after going down to 10 men,” Slot expressed in a post-match interview. “I couldn’t have asked for more in terms of performance and results.”
Slot acknowledged the impact of the early red card, stating, “At the start of the game, you always want to start intense. After 30 seconds, one of ours (Robertson) was on the floor and needed treatment for a while so we couldn’t get the intensity.”
This match marked Liverpool’s first league fixture in 10 days following postponements caused by Storm Darragh, and it was also their second successive league draw after a dramatic 3-3 result at Newcastle United.
Captain Virgil van Dijk shared his thoughts on the team’s performance, saying, “A great comeback is very positive. It’s disappointing having 10 men, but we showed fight and kept trying to create chances. It could have been more, but we take the point and move on.”
Fulham manager Marco Silva reflected on the match, stating, “When you are leading twice and playing against Liverpool after 17 minutes with 10 men, we feel we should have won the game. When you come here to Anfield to play and match them, it’s going to be an electric game. It’s a big emotional feeling.”
