Having mastered the art of near-threatless possession, Liverpool looked like they’d somehow grabbed all three points—only to see them snatched away as the crowd witnessed two injury-time goals at Fulham. Cody Gakpo, stealing in at the back post, thought he’d won it for the visitors before a world-class strike from Reid saw it finish 2-2.
Truly abject in a first half of drab, dour, joyless football, Liverpool found themselves trailing at half-time as former Red Harry Wilson put his side in front after a lengthy VAR delay. Perhaps fortunate to be ahead, Fulham were little better than a Liverpool team who appear determined to bring in the New Year playing with as little purpose and intensity as the last. Pointless possession, no energy or urgency; lazy, lazy football that offers such little joy or anticipation.
Astonishingly, Arne Slot made no personnel changes at half-time. Just how he could have watched not only the first half at Craven Cottage, but the shockingly inept display against Leeds, and concluded not to make any substitutions is surely beyond the understanding of most supporters. Perhaps he was simply too bored to utilize Frimpong or Chiesa any sooner than he did.
Meanwhile, Florian Wirtz, who scored the equalizer from close range after yet another laborious VAR delay for offside, found himself hooked. It was a baffling decision, even if it did lead to the introduction of Frimpong with fifteen minutes remaining. It was Frimpong who took the novel approach of crossing the ball into the box, resulting in the largely ineffectual Gakpo kneeing the ball into the Fulham net in the 94th minute. Yes, Liverpool had been slightly better in the second half, but by God, it would have been quite extraordinary had they not been, given just how bad they’d been in the opening forty-five minutes.
So, having taken the lead in the fourth of seven added minutes, Liverpool were denied a much-needed victory (however undeserved it would have been) just moments later. In not closing down Reid, he was invited to shoot, and the static Van Dijk—who appears to be suffering a near-permanent drop in form—watched the shot sail over his head. Alisson could do little as it flew into what is commonly known as the ‘top bin’.
A quite remarkable conclusion to a game in which Liverpool did little to dispel the notion that the rest of this season will be an endless grind of unappetizing, listless football. It will also be a season in which Arne Slot will surely find himself under increasing scrutiny unless both the football and results improve very, very quickly.
