The atrocious defending and mistake making from Martin Skrtel and Kolo Toure nearly cost Liverpool dearly, but a foolish slide from Sascha Riether gave Steven Gerrard a chance to win the match with a 90th minute penalty kick, as Fulham lead twice but eventually lost the match 3-2.

It was always going to be difficult for Liverpool at Craven Cottage, coming down from their win over Arsenal during the weekend while the Cottagers were hyped from their draw at Old Trafford. Kolo Toure continued his series of mistakes with a an abysmal clearance, scoring a pitiful own goal to give Fulham the lead. Just before half time a borderline genius pass from Steven Gerrard beat the offside trap and gave Daniel Sturridge a one on one situation which he rarely misses, making it 1-1.

In the second half Martin Skrtel remembered he hasn’t made a huge mistake in a very long time, so he made a poor attempt and execution at an acrobatic clearance, giving Kieran Richardson an easy chance from close range to give Fulham the lead again.

But Liverpool have a good enough attack to make up for a poor defense, getting a rare goal from Philippe Coutinho, which led to long minute of pressure on the Fulham goal in order to find the winner, as Maarten Stekelenburg had to leave the pitch with an injury after getting hit in the head.

Liverpool were close but never really got that perfect opportunity until the 90th minute, when Daniel Sturridge tried to get past Sascha Riether. The German defender made a foolish slide which Sturridge was looking for, getting the contact he wanted. Steven Gerrard stepped up to score the penalty kick in injury time, giving Liverpool the dramatic win.

Now Liverpool are only four points behind the league leaders Chelsea, making it a four-team championship race once more, For Fulham, buried deep in the last place, it was yet another loss they couldn’t afford, and their two-time lead made it even more painful to endure.

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