Arne Slot said he could not have asked for more from the 10 men of Liverpool after they fought back from Andy Robertson’s early red card and two Fulham leads to salvage a draw.
Liverpool dropped points for the second Premier League game in succession but Slot, who was highly critical of his team’s performance in the Champions League win at Girona on Tuesday, was full of praise for his players’ efforts against Marco Silva’s side. Diogo Jota, making his first appearance in almost two months because of injury, scored Liverpool’s second equaliser in the 86th minute to extend the league leaders’ unbeaten run to 19 matches.
“It is exactly the opposite from Girona where I was pleased with the result but not the performance,” said the Liverpool head coach. “Here I am very, very happy about the performance, I couldn’t have asked for more, but of course not with the result because if you drop points in a home game against Fulham that is definitely not what you expect or what you want. But being a goal down twice, when it’s all going against you, except for one thing – our players and our fans. I thought we were outstanding.”
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Robertson was sent off in the 17th minute for denying Harry Wilson a goalscoring opportunity, having mis-controlled to let the Wales international through on goal. The Scotland captain sustained a knee injury in a first-minute foul by Issa Diop. Slot, who felt the Fulham central defender should have been dismissed, claimed the injury and the mistake were connected.
Slot added: “The character the team showed is what Robbo showed. If you get a kick like this, two studs on the knee, that can hurt for a few minutes. We were hoping if he keeps running it would get better. I only had one defender on the bench, who is not a left full‑back, so you are hoping he was managing to come through it.
“But I first noticed he wasn’t completely himself when they put the ball in behind and he started running and was just able to head back to Ali [Alisson, the Liverpool goalkeeper]. I felt: ‘OK, let’s see how this continues,’ and soon afterwards he conceded the red card. Nothing to blame him for, the character for wanting to continue. Unfortunately it led to a red card, which was a deserved red card.”
Silva was left with mixed emotions having seen his side take the lead twice, and impress, but fail to finish off the 10 men. “We have the feeling we should have won the game,” the Fulham manager said. “I’m pleased with the performance and the bravery of our players, but when you score two at Liverpool and play against 10 men for 70 minutes you feel you should have taken three points as well.”
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