Jota goal earns leaders point despite Robertson red card in thriller

Diogo Jota scored within eight minutes of his return from an 11-match injury lay-off to rescue a point for Liverpool as the 10-man Premier League leaders avoided a surprise defeat at home to Fulham.

Rodrigo Muniz’s improvisational close-range finish 14 minutes from time looked to have ended the Reds’ 18-match unbeaten run, Antonee Robinson teeing the Brazilian forward up to flick in following incisive work by Alex Iwobi on Fulham’s left.

Liverpool, who had Andy Robertson dismissed six minutes after Andrea Pereira rifled in the 11th-minute opener, found their first equaliser when Cody Gakpo met Mohamed Salah’s delivery with a diving header two minutes after half-time.

Fulham rose to ninth after becoming the first of the last four teams to visit Anfield to score, while Liverpool are five points clear of second-placed Chelsea, who host Brentford on Sunday (7pm GMT).

💪🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/sE1oH5yBNw

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 14, 2024

Liverpool vs Fulham

Arne Slot’s side had been in serene form since their 1-0 home defeat against Nottingham Forest on September 14, including winning each of their last three games at Anfield 2-0 against Manchester City, Real Madrid and Aston Villa.

In the opposition technical area, counterpart Marco Silva was winless in all 10 of his meetings with Liverpool as a manager – but left-back Robertson’s wretched start to the game put his side on course to almost come away with three points.

Fast starts from @FulhamFC 🏎️

The Cottagers have opened the scoring early in each of their last three matches! pic.twitter.com/l88uaUBAZT

— Premier League (@premierleague) December 14, 2024

After receiving treatment early on, Robertson might have wished he had gone off when Robinson’s cross looped over his head and found Pereira at the far post, whose shot hit the roof of the net via the Scotland captain.

Robertson was then dismissed after miscontrolling the ball into Harry Wilson’s path and hastily hauling him down in an attempt to atone for his error, although there was a lengthy Video Assistant Referee check for offside before the decision was confirmed.

AP at Anfield. 💥 pic.twitter.com/bUUpU8Ic2j

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) December 14, 2024

Jota goal on return from injury

Silva’s players looked comfortable but Liverpool did not resemble a depleted team, moving Ryan Gravenberch to centre-back as Joe Gomez took Robertson’s position on the left.

Gakpo’s goal marked a stirring start to the second half by his side, only for Muniz to restore Fulham’s lead within nine minutes of coming on and put them within sight of a first win in seven against Liverpool, having last beaten them at Anfield in 2021.

100 – Mo Salah has now provided 100 assists for Liverpool in all competitions, with 13 of those coming this season – the most of any Premier League player in 2024-25. Centurion. pic.twitter.com/nvHTy3lOfs

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 14, 2024

Slot’s own late changes featured the introductions of Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliott and Jota in attack, and the Portugal international showed why Liverpool had missed him.

Jota collected Nunez’s pass, swivelled to advance inside the penalty area and slotted in with four minutes remaining for his first home league goal in more than 10 months.