Liverpool secured their place in the Carabao Cup final on Wednesday evening, drawing 1-1 with Fulham at Craven Cottage and progressing to the final with a 3-2 aggregate victory.
The Reds took a 2-1 first leg lead to west London and swiftly added to their advantage when Luis Diaz struck just after the ten minute mark. Issa Diop pulled one back for the hosts with 77 minutes played but Fulham couldn’t force the game to extra-time as the clock ran down.
Liverpool will face Chelsea in the Wembley final at the end of February after the Blues hammered Championship side Middlesbrough 6-2 on aggregate in their semi-final.
How the game unfolded
On such a big occasion, there were some understandable nerves from Fulham players in the early stages, Liverpool dominating the ball from the off. However, the best chance of the opening ten minutes fell to Joao Palhinha, finding space from a corner but directing his shot over the crossbar.
Despite the Cottagers growing into the game swiftly, Liverpool delivered a sucker punch at the other end just 11 minutes in. Diaz collected a cross-field pass from Jarell Quansah, before jinking inside and seeing his deflected shot squirm past Bernd Leno at his near post.
The Reds’ opener seemed to suck the life out of the Craven Cottage crowd, with Fulham unable to play through Liverpool’s intense press. Diaz came close to doubling the visitors’ lead on the night after he fired home the rebound following Darwin Nunez’s effort, but the flag was correctly raised against the Uruguayan.
The hosts’ best moment of the first half came out of nothing just after the half-an-hour mark, Raul Jimenez’s powerful low drive from outside the box palmed wide by Caoimhin Kelleher. Willian also saw his 25-yard shot fly straight into the arms of Liverpool’s Irish goalkeeper shortly afterwards.
Fulham were gifted a glorious opportunity just seven minutes into the second period, Kelleher failing to claim a lofted cross into the box and Andreas Pereira subsequently slamming the post from Issa Diop’s knock down. The Reds immediately went down the other end themselves, Harvey Elliott’s tame effort unable to punish his former club.
Nunez saw his first shot on target of the game pushed wide by Leno after he tried to bend an effort into the far corner, with the South American also seeing a curling strike fly inches wide of the Fulham goal after a neat turn around the hour mark.
Just as time was running out for the Cottagers, Fulham drew level out of the blue….
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