Liverpool stayed in the hunt for the Premier League title and moved level on points with leader Arsenal with a 3-1 victory over Fulham that was illuminated by a brilliant free kick by Trent Alexander-Arnold on Sunday.
Liverpool bounced back from Thursday’s exit to Atalanta in
the Europa League quarterfinals and last weekend’s home loss to Crystal Palace
by winning at Craven Cottage after Jurgen Klopp dropped Mohamed Salah and
Alexis Mac Allister to the bench.
Alexander-Arnold’s curling free-kick in the 32nd was
canceled out by Timothy Castagne’s first goal for Fulham in first-half stoppage
time.
Ryan Gravenberch and Diogo Jota scored in the second half as
Liverpool joined Arsenal on 74 points — one more than defending champion
Manchester City, which has a game in hand.
Fulham academy graduate Harvey Elliott, who swapped London
for Merseyside in 2019, was galvanized by jeers from the home fans as he helped
his side create the first chance of the match.
The attacking midfield player instinctively picked out
Alexander-Arnold, whose cross could not be directed in by Luis Diaz’s glancing
header as the ball narrowly missed the inside of the post.
Alexander-Arnold then showed off his elite ball-striking
ability. First, he received the ball centrally and he delivered a first-time
side-footed pass in behind Fulham full-back Antonee Robinson before Diaz’s low
cross to Jota was struck wide of the right-hand post.
Then, after Joao Palhinha brought down Jota on the
counterattack, Alexander-Arnold stood over the set-piece in an almost central
position near the edge of the area and whipped the ball over the wall into the
top left-hand corner.
The Cottagers had been quiet all half but they came alive in
added time to equalize.
Rodrigo Muniz’s blocked header off Alex Iwobi’s cross fell
kindly to the unmarked Castagne, who slammed his effort home from close range.
Parity did not last long as, in the 53rd minute,
Liverpool punished a series of errors to retake the lead. Iwobi’s wayward pass
found Elliott in a dangerous position and he opted to lay the ball off to
Gravenberch, whose first-time curled effort flew past Bernd Leno to make it
2-1.
Liverpool wrapped up the win in the 72nd after
Cody Gakpo’s pass split the defense and Jota finished with a strike into the
bottom right-hand corner. AP