Last season showed with all clarity that every single point counts if you are going to win the Premier League at the moment. Manchester City and Liverpool have both become so good that the team that will be crowned champions almost cannot afford to lose a single point against the supposedly weakest teams in the league. After today’s opening match of this year’s season for the Reds, we can already deduct two lost points. Jürgen Klopp’s men managed “only” 2-2 against a fun and fighting Fulham at Craven Cottage. Controversial opening goal The match was extremely fast-paced and rich – and not without controversy either. The experts in Viaplay’s studio were quite clear that Fulham’s 1-0 score before the break should have been cancelled. CLEAR POINT OF VIEW: Former Sogndal coach Eirik Bakke. Photo: Rune Stoltz Bertinussen / NTB The goal itself was beautifully headed into the box by an absolutely enormous Aleksandar Mitrovic, but it was a few seconds earlier, when Fulham won the ball, that perhaps referee Madley should have taken action. Palhinha went really hard into Jordan Henderson and stamped the Liverpool captain, who was left lying down. Both Eirik Bakke and Fredrik Ljungberg in the Viaplay studio think Madley should be blown. FAILED: Jordan Henderson missed a free kick. Photo: PETER CZIBORRA / Reuters – It’s a clear free kick. Palhinha is way too late and steps on Henderson’s foot. The judging team should see that, says Bakke. Arsenal legend Ljungberg agrees: – I think it is 100 per cent free kick. I think it’s a bit bad of the referee, he says. The VAR panel published a report about the incident, in which they wrote that the incident was neither clear enough nor occurred late enough before the scoring for VAR to take action, but both Bakke and Ljungberg believe the fault lies with referee Madley. Broken in the air Just over half an hour had been played when Fulham thus took the lead. The scoring didn’t exactly go according to plan, but the recipe behind it wasn’t particularly surprising. The London team’s fast full-back Kenny Tete came onto an overlap on the right, and was hit high into the Liverpool box. There, Aleksandar Mitrovic was very strong, and the Serbian crushed Trent Alexander-Arnold in the air and headed the ball into the roof of the net behind Alisson from an acute angle. SERBIAN SUCCESS: Aleksandar Mitrovic has struggled in the Premier League in the past, but was huge in his season debut on Saturday. Photo: PETER CZIBORRA / Reuters Before the opening goal, Liverpool had had a good period and, among other things, had a goal from Luis Diaz correctly canceled for offside, but it was not entirely undeserved that it was the home team who took the lead. The black and white started the match well, and created several opportunities after winning the ball high up the field. Liverpool struggled to set up the game and did not quite look like last year’s edition. However, Jürgen Klopp’s men put in some pretty solid pressure in the last quarter of the first half, but never got any closer than Luis Diaz’s blistering left-footed post. Nunez with a wonderful score Klopp was obviously not happy with his team. The German already made three changes in the first quarter of the second half. One of those who came in was the big purchase Darwin Nunez. The Uruguayan came close after an hour of play, but was stopped by a brilliant leg parade from Marek Rodak. The chance came right after Neeskens Kebano had been millimeters from increasing to 2–0. Fulham’s number seven hit the post perfectly after a good shot. After just over an hour, the inevitable happened: Nunez equalized for the Reds. Liverpool’s new striker put the ball into the roof of the net after a spectacular finish with his right foot. Mohamed Salah crossed from the right, and Nunez left one foot behind the other and made more than enough contact with the ball to steer it behind Rodak. 1-0 AGAINST HAALAND: Many have been looking forward to the striker duel between Darwin Nunez and Erling Braut Haaland this season. The Uruguayan now leads 1-0. Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP Liverpool continued to control and attack after the equaliser, but when most people thought that the big team might want to manage towards a decent victory, Fulham hit back. Penalty goal The home team attacked, and in the box Mitrovic was both smart and lucky when he went down after trying to pull off Virgil van Dijk. The referee immediately pointed to the penalty mark, and the penalty spot put the Serbian under control in Alisson’s left corner. However, Liverpool would not give up so easily. Ten minutes before the end, Salah headed in 2-2 with the inside of his foot after Nunez – somewhat fortunately – had laid the ball on a silver platter for his team-mate. IN FAMOUS STYLE: Mohamed Salah provided a goal-scoring pass before heading in the rebound. Photo: PETER CZIBORRA / Reuters Liverpool pressed quite fiercely towards the end, but never came closer than a rocket from Jordan Henderson hit the crossbar.
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Liverpool blow against Fulham – the experts butcher the referee – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
