Liverpool fail to overcome Fulham but make a point

Two points dropped, one test of character passed. It remains to be seen which proves more significant in the final reckoning, but this was stirring stuff from Liverpool.

- RICHARD JOLLY

Twice in the position of being both a goal and a man down, they conjured two equalisers in a demonstration of their spirit and Arne Slot’s resourcefulness. If the Dutchman was supposed to be about control, this was a sequel to the chaos of the 3-3 draw at Newcastle. Slot, normally that byword for calmness, was caught up in the emotion of the occasion, getting cautioned at one point, his head in his hands at another.

Yet if he displayed some cool thinking to extend Liverpool’s unbeaten run to 19 games, so did Diogo Jota. Seven minutes into his comeback after more than seven weeks out, the substitute showed the composure to level. The bare facts are that victory eluded Liverpool for a second successive league match just as Fulham, after holding Arsenal, made another intervention in the title race. In a match that turned into a 107-minute epic of 28 shots, seven yellow cards for the players – plus one for Slot – and a red, Fulham held their own.

Two points dropped, one test of character passed. It remains to be seen which proves more significant in the final reckoning, but this was stirring stuff from Liverpool.

Twice in the position of being both a goal and a man down, they conjured two equalisers in a demonstration of their spirit and Arne Slot’s resourcefulness. If the Dutchman was supposed to be about control, this was a sequel to the chaos of the 3-3 draw at Newcastle. Slot, normally that byword for calmness, was caught up in the emotion of the occasion, getting cautioned at one point, his head in his hands at another.