[Liverweb] Fulham Match Report

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Liverpool 5 Fulham 1

Liverpool : Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Traore, Gerrard (C),
Hamann, Garcia, Kewell, Fowler, Morientes

Subs Used : Cisse for Fowler (67), Crouch for Morientes (80),
Warnock for Kewell (87)

Subs Unused : Dudek, Hyypia

Att : 42,293

Ref : Alan Wiley

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The Reds finally hit the scoring charts last night against Fulham as
they hit five past the visitor's. In truth 5-1 flatters the Reds but
not because Fulham were great but because this game was dull and for
me the Reds simply didn't play any good football. When they did they
tore through Fulham with ease.

The Reds made five changes to the side from Sunday which saw Agger
come in to the centre of defence and Fowler start up front. The Reds
were missing Alonso through some stupid suspension gained when Steve
Bennett was looking the other way.

The Reds won the toss and elected to defend the Kop end in the first
half. Tony Warner was in goal for Fulham and having seemed to
disappear at one point arrived in his goal and the match started.
Inside the first minute Garcia raced in to the box and won a corner.
Garcia had the ball in the net a minute later but the assistant ref
on the centenary side flagged offside.

The Reds started quite well and looked to set off at a good pace. On
nine minutes Morientes was played in on goal but only managed to get
the ball lost in his feet and the chance went begging. Simply
because of the way our luck has been of late you started wondering
if this was another night of missed chances.

On fifteen minutes the ball was sent crashing home from Robbie
Fowler. Harry Kewell did exactly what we should do every time from a
corner and played it in to the box. It was headed on by Garcia and
Fowler headed home from thee yards out. The crowd went wild, as did
Robbie and his scoring return duck is over.

This had to be the springboard now for better things but Fulham dug
in a little. The Reds though had more chances as Hamann volleyed
over the bar and then Morientes hit the side netting after Fowler
had played hi in.

Fulham got themselves back in the game on twenty five minutes.
Gerrard stupidly lost the ball in the centre of the pitch. With the
Reds exposed John was played in round the back of Agger and he
finished past Pepe Reina. Time to start again now.

Michael Brown was booked on the half hour mark by ref Alan Wiley for
an elbow on Kewell. Brown was a little over psyched for this one.
The Reds were half losing the battle in the midfield and failing to
keep a good passing move going. Then on thirty four minutes they
went back in front. Kewell drove the ball across the area and Brown
tapped it home with Morientes looming behind him.

Fulham had a couple of decent chance before half time to equalise
for a second time but their shots went just the wrong side of the
post from their point of view. Half time reached and surely we could
up the tempo a little and put the game beyond doubt in the second
half.

The Reds got the second half underway and in the first minutes
looked to have upped the pace a bit. Just four minutes in to the
half and Garcia bent a superb shot over and past Warner only to see
it rebound out off the crossbar. With just one goal in front of
Fulham it was tricky to put this one to bed. The game got duller as
the Reds went longer to hit Morientes up front. Fowler and Morientes
were both working hard to win the ball but it's hard to do
everything at this point.

There was a major scare for the Reds on sixty one minutes when Zat
Knight rose superbly well but his header hit the post and the chance
went. It was a wake up call though as the quiet crowd started to get
restless. The Reds had big penalty appeals on sixty eight minutes
when Bridge appeared to handle the ball in his own box but the
claims were waved away.

The Reds then made the first change of the night with Fowler being
replaced by Cisse. This move was greeted by boos from some sections
of the ground but this did the players no good at all. Inside two
minutes the Reds were three one up and the decision to leave
Morientes on was justified. Cisse saw his initial header on goal
well saved and after Garcia and Agger failed to hit the rebound
Morientes smashed the ball home in to the roof of the net.

It was only at this point that the game seemed to stretch more in
favour of the Reds. Fulham's away form this year has been shocking
and it showed through now. Crouch came on for the final ten minutes
for Morientes. Crouch himself was on the score sheet eight minutes
later. Cisse crossed the ball to the far post where Gerrard drilled
in a shot and Crouch guided it in from a yard out. Suddenly the
scoreline looked very positive indeed.

The score got even better in the final minute when Stephen Warnock
scored. Warnock had only come on just before the Crouch goal. He
found himself free in the box to slam home a rebound after Finnan
had found himself jinking through the area to shoot. His shot was
saved and Warnock stepped up and scored with his right foot. Warnock
was clearly ecstatic by the look of his celebration and rightly so
for the best finish from a Red on the night.

In injury time their was nearly a bit of a kick off and frankly it
was all caused by the Reds being stupid. At 5-1 up you don't play a
corner to hold it up at the corner flag but Gerrard and Finnan did
just this. It clearly wound up the Fulham players and the home fans
who didn't like this. As the game finished there was nearly a mass
brawl between players and Benitez even ended up walking down the
pitch to show his disgust at his own players.

All in all this was a comfortable scoreline that flatters the Reds a
bit. It hides the fact that some of the football in this one was
awful stuff and that the Reds didn't play enough quality football.
When they did Fulham folded up and conceded.

MotM : Robbie Fowler - worked his socks off and got off the mark as
well which was great to see. It was his all round movement though
which swayed my final choice tough. For me Agger also deserves
credit for the way he has settled quickly in to the game.

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Match Stats
Liverpool Fulham
59% Possession 41%
8 Shots On Target 2
7 Shots Off Target 3
3 Blocked Shots 2
8 Corners 2
9 Fouls 12
5 Offsides 10
0 Yellow Cards 3
0 Red Cards 0

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