Late screamer earns Fulham a point with Liverpool
Harrison Reed's 97th-minute screamer gave Fulham a dramatic 2-2 home draw against Liverpool in the Premier League, after Cody Gakpo thought he had won it for the visitors in stoppage-time.
Liverpool academy graduate Harry Wilson gave Fulham the lead in the 17th minute with a sweet shot into the bottom corner after he was played in by Raul Jimenez, with the goal initially disallowed for offside before the video assistant referee (VAR) intervened.
The visitors looked toothless in the first half without top scorer Hugo Ekitike, but improved after the break and Florian Wirtz put them level with a clinical finish in the 57th minute for his second Liverpool goal.
After Alexis Mac Allister and Wilson both hit the woodwork in a frantic, end-to-end second half, Gakpo seemingly snatched the win in the 94th minute, bundling home Jeremie Frimpong's cross to spark wild celebrations from the travelling Reds.
But Reed earned a share of the spoils at the death with a sublime long-range strike, finding the top corner from all of 30 metres with his first goal since April 2023.
Fulham coach Marco Silva said he thought his side had deserved a point, telling reporters a defeat after its performance would have been "completely unfair for us".
Liverpool – now unbeaten in eight league games and nine in all competitions – remains fourth on 34 points from 20 games, 14 points behind leader Arsenal. Fulham is 11th with 28 points.
Reds coach Arne Slot said he thought his side had controlled the game but that, having seen Liverpool concede late winners earlier in the season, Fulham's equaliser was "not a surprise".
Liverpool had the better early chances, with Gakpo having a shot deflected just wide before spurning a better opportunity when played through by Curtis Jones but he scuffed his effort.
Wilson, who has made two senior Liverpool appearances, made no mistake in a near-identical position shortly after, firing crisply across Alisson from just inside the box having run on to Jimenez's perfectly-weighted ball around the corner.
Liverpool looked flat and slow, with Gakpo looking out of sorts in an unfamiliar central role and Fulham was rarely troubled before the break.
The Reds began brightly after halftime, though, and Gakpo had the ball in the net within two minutes of the restart but was clearly offside.
Wirtz thought he was the latest to have an apparent goal disallowed, finishing nicely after Conor Bradley's barrelling run before the flag went up. But after a lengthy VAR check the goal stood, with Issa Diop having played the German onside.
"I was sure it was offside so I didn't even celebrate," Wirtz said. "I was happy that I scored but I'd rather take the three points."
Liverpool was rampant and Fulham had to cling on before they began to reassert itself, with the dangerous Wilson hitting the crossbar with a chip after Alisson fumbled at the feet of Jimenez on the edge of the box.
Fulham's fans roared in expectation as seven added minutes were announced but it was Gakpo, who seemingly settled the contest with a scruffy finish after Joachim Andersen missed an attempted block.
Reed, though, had other ideas and unleashed an unstoppable shot past Alisson to give Fulham a point it fully deserved.
Liverpool again dropped points to a late goal, making even the most optimistic fan's hopes that the Reds can still defend their league title a pipe dream.
"I think if you are not part of Liverpool, you don't follow us every game, then you think you win it [with Gakpo's goal] but unfortunately I am experiencing this for months now," Slot told reporters.
"The first chance the other team gets – and the only chance they got in the first half – led to a goal. And that's one thing we usually see with us.
"And the second thing we see a lot is that the other team scores a goal you don't expect in extra time.
Slot will have few sympathisers having spent lavishly on new signings in the summer, but said his side created as many chances as could be expected given his lack of attacking options.
"I would love to create more, but if you play with the amount of midfielders we play in with one attacker against [the] 5-4-1 of Fulham in an away game, I don't know if you can expect then us creating chance after chance," Slot said.
"But overall I think we've created enough chances to win the game and we did very well by limiting them to maybe one, one-and-a-half chances."
