A below-par Liverpool needed a late Mohamed Salah penalty kick to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham in the English Premier League (EPL) on Sunday.
The result meant the titleholders squandered the chance to return to the top, after leaders Tottenham had also drawn 1-1 with hosts Crystal Palace earlier in the day.
Fulham led through Bobby Decordova-Reid’s superb 25th minute effort and Liverpool needed returning goalkeeper Alisson Becker and some luck to avoid being further behind at the break.
There was still little of the attacking quality which propelled them to the title last season, however, and it required Salah’s 79th minute penalty kick to earn a point.
It was awarded for a harsh handball against Aboubakar Kamara.
Liverpool joined leaders Tottenham on 25 points from 12 games after Jose Mourinho’s side also drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace in an earlier kickoff.
Fulham stay fourth from bottom with eight points but offered a display to gladden the hearts of the 2,000 fans who were allowed to watch at Craven Cottage.
Klopp’s side have dropped 11 points this season compared to the 15 from the whole of their title-winning campaign.
Skipper Jordan Henderson said Liverpool had been off the pace in the first half.
“We didn’t really get going in the first 25 minutes which in the Premier League you can’t do, you get punished, he said. “The good thing was we reacted well.
“We will look at it, but it’s not like us.”
Alisson, back after a hamstring injury, was required twice in the opening 15 minutes to deny Ivan Cavaleiro as Fulham dominated the opening exchanges with some slick football.
Liverpool got a lucky break after they were not punished when Cavaleiro appeared to have his standing leg clipped by Fabinho in the area.
Referee Andre Marriner declined to give a penalty kick after going to check a pitchside VAR monitor.
Fulham shrugged off that disappointment though and took the lead when Decordova-Reid dispatched an arrow-like right-foot shot that gave Alisson no chance.
Forced to defend deep after the break, Fulham were edging towards an unlikely win until Liverpool were awarded a penalty kick.
This was when Kamara was adjudged to have used his arm after jumping in the wall to stop Georginio Wijnaldum’s free-kick.
It would have been harsh on Fulham had they been beaten late on, but they dug in to end a run of six successive Premier League defeats against Liverpool.
“I thought in the first half there was some real quality about us,” Fulham manager Scott Parker said.
“The fans played a big part today. We felt the atmosphere before the game and the players showed real spirit.”
Harry Kane scored his ninth goal of 2020/2021 English Premier League (EPL) season on Sunday, but Jeffrey Schlupp’s late equaliser left leaders Tottenham Hotspur frustrated in a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.
Kane struck in the 23rd minute with a low long range shot which deceived Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita as Tottenham began in confident fashion in the Selhurst Park drizzle.
But Crystal Palace responded impressively to dominate after the break and Schlupp grabbed a deserved leveller from close range in the 81st minute.
Southampton striker Che Adams scored against his former club and midfielders Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond struck after the interval as they defeated Sheffield United 3-0 at St. Mary’s Stadium on Sunday to go third on the table.
Southampton dominated possession and went ahead on 34 minutes as the Blades failed to properly deal with a James Ward-Prowse free kick.
Adams, however, reacted quickest to tap home his fourth league goal of the season in front of 2,000 supporters.
Armstrong doubled the home side’s lead in the second half with a low shot that gave Blades goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale no chance as it took a big deflection off defender Phil Jagielka and rolled into the net.
Substitute Redmond scored his first goal of the season seven minutes from time with a side-footed finish following an exchange with midfielder Oriol Romeu to heap the pressure on Chris Wilder’s bottom-placed side.
“We knew it would be a tough one. They’re quite defensive. We knew that they would want to get something from the game,” Armstrong said in a post-match interview.
“It was important to get that breakthrough early on. The first few minutes of the second half were a bit difficult, but we found our feet and deserved the win.
“Ultimately we want to be at the top end of the table. We’ve found ourselves in the bottom half in recent years… We take things game by game, but today’s a good start.”
The Blades’ 11th defeat of the campaign makes them the first team since Queens Park Rangers in 2012 to be without a win after 12 Premier League matches, and pressure is mounting on manager Wilder to arrest their slide.
Ralph Hasenhuettl’s Southampton climbed to third in the table behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool with 23 points from 12 games ahead of a potentially tricky clash at Arsenal on Wednesday.
