Liverpool ended a run of three straight defeats and eased the pressure on Arne Slot with a 2-0 win over Fulham.
Rio Ngumoha became Liverpool’s youngest ever Premier League goalscorer at Anfield when opening the scoring at the age of just 17 years and 225 days. His majestic strike was followed up by a Mohamed Salah classic minutes later to double the lead as the Egyptian scored just his second Premier League goal since November.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool had conceded two or more goals 18 times in the final 20 minutes of Premier League games this season but despite shipping 19 shots and nine corners, managed this game without a major scare as they now look to reverse a 2-0 deficit to PSG in the Champions League.
The win gives Liverpool a cushion in the race for the final Champions League spot with the gap to Chelsea in sixth now at four points. Chelsea play Manchester City, live on Super Sunday.
Slot’s side had won just two of their previous eight games in all competitions and, after being outplayed by Manchester City and Paris St Germain in the past week, the Dutchman was in the spotlight heading into this fixture.
Liverpool were helped in the first half by a rusty Fulham, who were playing for the first time in three weeks and struggled to get going – that’s where Ngumoha and Salah did their damage.
Florian Wirtz’s driving run led to the 36th-minute opener, finished brilliantly by Ngumoha, who wrong-footed Timothy Castagne before curling low into the far corner.
It was the 17-year-old’s first goal since his dramatic late winner at Newcastle in August.
Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Ngumoha was involved again as Liverpool doubled their lead four minutes later, this time picking out Gakpo, who controlled and laid off for Salah to clip home across goal.
After netting 29 in last season’s title-winning campaign, it was only the Egyptian’s sixth Premier League goal of the season.
Fulham dominated territory after the break but Sasa Lukic had a goal ruled out for offside, Rodrigo Muniz failed to make the most of a free header and Emile Smith Rowe missed the target from 12 yards.
Some breathing space for Slot.
Redknapp offers insight into Ngumoha’s rise to Liverpool’s first team
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Jamie Redknapp recounts a time when he saw Rio Ngumoha train at his house and was staggered by how fast his feet were, praising his work ethic as well as his natural talent
Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp:
“The potential was so obvious. Everybody could see it. He just had sort of a natural X-factor.
“He was at Chelsea at the same time as my youngest son, and they used to train together in the same group.
“It was quite staggering to see. His brother, who played a big part in his career, certainly his development. He used to do a lot of one-on-one coaching with him, and he came over to my house a few times, and I just watched how he worked with Rio.
“I’ve never seen a kid with such fast feet, but it was repetition after repetition.
For anyone who doesn’t know his sort of journey. He was one of the very highly regarded players at Chelsea. They loved him. Wanted to keep him. Liverpool came in. He left at 16 years of age to go up there, and it must have been really hard for him. It probably took a little while to settle. His first year in the academy didn’t go, perhaps, to plan.
“This year, he forced his way in with the first team squad. And now you can see it, the goal against Newcastle, the goal against Fulham, he’s thriving.”
Slot: Ngumoha deserves to be playing
Liverpool boss Arne Slot speaking to Sky Sports on Ngumoha:
“One of his strengths is dominating the one-on-one. We’ve seen this season that he gets more and more and more playing time. That’s what he deserves because every time he plays, he does really well.
“His influence in the game, like he did today and against Wolves. Today, he even scored a goal which is vital in football because goals matter a lot.
“We’ve played many games like this this season but unfortunately that didn’t always lead to a win or a clean sheet. I think we deserved to win but it wasn’t as if we completely dominated the game. But we’ve played many of these games where a deflected shot or a set piece led to us conceding and it ended up in a draw or a loss.
“I wouldn’t say luck but at last there was justice to how the game went.”