With Saturday's FA Cup final versus Chelsea in mind, Kenny Dalglish made nine changes to the team that eased past Norwich City last time out. This was partly to offer the likes of Kelly, Maxi and Kuyt an opportunity to earn a place in the weekend's starting line-up, but primarily to rest key players, such as Reina, Agger, Gerrard and Suarez, who would be sorely missed if they picked up an injury or suspension.
Frustratingly, the first sight of goal saw skipper for the evening Skrtel inadvertently convert past his own keeper. Alex Kacaniklic, a promising youngster making only his second start for Fulham after former Reds' boss Roy Hodgson ludicrously allowed him to leave Anfield as part of the Konchesky deal, connected with John Arne Riise's cross but it was Skrtel who got the decisive touch that wrong-footed Doni.
The away side almost doubled their lead ten minutes later, as a lovely dink into the box from Dempsey took out the Reds' defence and left Pogrebnyak with a gilt-edged opportunity. Thankfully, the fantastically named Russian was denied by a good save from Doni, whose performance was crucial in keeping the scoreline respectable.The atmosphere at that point was understandably downbeat and, as a result, the players had to lift themselves rather than relying on the disgruntled home supporters. They were moderately successful in doing so, but Fulham's lead never really looked vulnerable. On 19 minutes, Maxi launched a shot into the sparsely populated Anfield Road End, before neat passing from the Reds culminated in a 20-yard stab from Kuyt flying narrowly wide of the target.
On the half hour mark, a goalmouth scramble started when Schwarzer fumbled a cross and ended when Hangeland cleared Shelvey’s shot off the line. Despite little inspiration from his teammates in midfield, Shelvey remained the one spark of hope and was involved in most of the home side's attacking play. Five minutes before the break, his cracking cross-field pass found Kuyt, whose cross was almost turned home by Maxi. There was still time for the 20-year old to hit a sweet strike just wide of the post before the break.
It was little better in the second half, either. Fulham remained content with their lead and continued to pass crisper and move quicker than their hosts, who lacked the heart and the passion to drag themselves back into the contest. Former Liverpool left winger John Arne Riise, who the Merseysiders struggled to replace until Enrique arrived from Newcastle last summer, persistently threatened. The Norwegian had to be stopped by Coates, as he seemed destined to add to the Cottagers' lead on 56 minutes, before Doni denied the ginger-haired 31-year old with a decent save.
Liverpool's response was pitifully poor. Apart from Carroll's acrobatic effort that went awry and a last ditch tackle from Hangeland preventing Maxi going through on goal, the Reds failed to test Schwarzer. Hopes were raised when Raheem Sterling replaced Dirk Kuyt, but the talented youngster couldn't rescue anything from a game which we deserved to take absolutely nothing from.Excuses could be made for last night's shambolic performance. The fact that so many changes were made to the starting eleven inevitably means the team is unlikely to gel and Fulham played better than their away record suggested they would. However, ultimately there is no way a performance that poor can be justified, particulalrly ahead of the biggest game of the season on Saturday.
We can only hope that the fact that most of those who started last night won't play against Chelsea ensures that this defeat won't effect our performance in the Cup final.
YNWA
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