Match Reports
Liverpool 0-0 Fulham Liverpool dropped two points in a game which they had enough chances to have won, on a bitterly cold night at Anfield The Reds went in search of a goal from the kick off, as they quickly won possession from Fulham and forced the Cottagers to concede a corner after around 40 seconds of the game. Nothing came of it though, and with much of the next quarter hour played out in the centre of the park, chances were few and far between ans when Fulham charged forward quickly midway through the first half, it took a top class defensive challenge by Gerrard to win the ball back from Luis Boa Morte and prevent his side from possibly going a goal down. The challenge was just inside the area, and anything less than Gerrard getting 100% of the ball would have surely resulted in a penalty. But before the break, both sides had wasted other opportunites to take the lead. Fulham, who played some excellent football at times, weaved their way through the Liverpool defence on the edge of the 18 yard box, but the final shots were tame, and failed to trouble Dudek. Owen missed a couple of chances at the other end, with Van Der Saar saving the first effort, and the second going well wide of the target. A Gary McAllister free kick set up the best chance of the half though, and Gerrard was unlucky to see his header bounce of the outside of the post. In the second half, Liverpool again attacked early on and Heskey was guilty of missing on of the best chances in the whole match when Owen played a low cross into the area. Heskey swung a foot at the ball, but made no contact and the match stayed goalless. While Liverpool were certainly not playing defensively, they definately took too long to get forward on a number of occasions, allowing Fulham to get men behind the ball. Carragher also seemed reluctant to get quick crosses into the forwards, and this mostly resulted in him taking the ball back to Dudek, to the frustration of the Anfield crowd. Another Gary McAllister free kick late in the game curled against the post and rebounded back into the area, but there was noone to finish off the chance. In the end, Fulham deserved a point from the game, and Liverpool will now look to taking something from their away trip at Chelsea this weekend to keep the pressure on the chasing pack.
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