Mitrovic continues rich scoring form as Fulham hold Liverpool

Marco Silva looked the more displeased manager after the blast of the final whistle on Saturday’s lunchtime kick off but it more than the result, spoke of how much his side gave in the game

Fulham looked at home when they hosted Liverpool on their Premier League return as they threw away a lead two times in the game to the displeasure of Silva.

The Londoners dictated the opening spells of the game and got a deserved lead when Aleksandr Mitrovic headed past Allison at the back post.

Trent Alexander-Arnold dealt poorly with Kenny Tete’s cross from the right and was punished by the Serbian forward behind him to give Fulham a deserved lead in the 32nd minute.

Jordan Henderson’s appeal for a foul fell on deaf ears and the Reds would feel hard done by the decision as he appeared to have been caught on his heels in the buildup to the goal.

New signing Darwin Nunez began his life in the Premier League with a goal in the 64th minute before Mitrovic converted from the spot to get his second of the night.

He scored 43 goals in the Championship last season.

Liverpool scored an equaliser through Mo Salah in the 80th minute as the Fulham defense failed to deal with a ball convincingly in the box.

What did Klopp and Silva say about the game?

“We got a point from a really bad game from my side so now it’s a question of ‘How can that happen?” Klopp told BT.

“The attitude was not right in the beginning and then we wanted to fight back but it wasn’t easy any more. The pitch was dry, stuff like this, we played really in their cards [translation: into their hands] most of the time. The result is fine, I don’t think we deserved more than that but the performance was massively improvable.”

Marco Silva hailed his team’s organisation and Mitrovic for the result.

“We have to respect the top, top quality they have but we have to do our job and trust in ourselves,” he told BT.

“We showed fantastic organisation from the start until the end of the match. Our first half was almost perfect, the way we controlled and worked.”

“I know the quality Mitro has,”

“I’m here to take the best from my players and we are going on from last season. Mitro is not just goals and if somebody thinks that they can forget it.

“The job he did this afternoon for the team, his pressure, his helping the midfield and helping the backline, it would have been enough even if he hadn’t scored. I have to congratulate everyone from Marek to Mitro, but the work he did without the ball this afternoon was fantastic.”