Ngumoha and Salah on target as Liverpool see off Fulham to consolidate fifth

[p]Most of the pre-match headlines before this game were dominated by confirmation that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/robertson-andrew/6e7Be9VI/"]Andrew Robertson[/a] would be leaving at the end of the season, and he was one of the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Reds[/a] who had an early opportunity.[/p][p]His strike from the edge of the area was heroically blocked by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wilson-harry/YaDI3Fok/"]Harry Wilson[/a], just moments before another end-of-season departure in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salah-mohamed/08FBycgB/"]Mohamed Salah[/a] stung the palms of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leno-bernd/jwRV63z0/"]Bernd Leno[/a] when he struck from a tight angle. [/p][p]Pressure was building on the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fulham/69ZiU2Om/"]Fulham[/a] goal and it almost told after 20 minutes when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gakpo-cody/pWyuBud0/"]Cody Gakpo[/a] whistled an effort inches wide of the post from the edge of the area.[/p][p]The Cottagers grew into the half and looked more threatening as it went on, testing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mamardashvili-giorgi/lxnsUkIc/"]Giorgi Mamardashvili[/a] in the Liverpool goal twice in quick succession when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/iwobi-alex/2L5gbR8M/"]Alex Iwobi[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bobb-oscar/GzxuaXeQ/"]Oscar Bobb[/a] forced the Georgian stopper into smart saves, moments before Harry Wilson curled an effort onto the roof of the net.[/p][embed guid="31e2e00e-64a0-4678-9fcb-31c359503619" url="https://x.com/LFC/status/2043015214233264241" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]They were left to rue those missed chances before half-time, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ngumoha-rio/rejpF30d/"]Rio Ngumoha[/a] twisted and turned inside the area before nestling home a sumptuous curling effort into the far corner.[/b][/p][p][b]Salah compounded Fulham’s misery before the break too, sweeping home in almost identical circumstances to leave Marco Silva’s men with a mountain to climb after the break. [/b][/p][embed guid="8e9e6d4a-03f8-4eef-a6aa-6c27cc3d03c4" url="https://x.com/LFC/status/2043016513565630636" social-type="twitter" /][p]He reacted by making a double switch at half-time, introducing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lukic-sasa/nwu2UvUA/"]Sasa Lukic[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smith-rowe-emile/fsJB9j4d/"]Emile Smith Rowe[/a], and the former of the duo had the ball in the back of the net within five minutes of the restart, only he’d strayed a few yards offside in doing so.[/p][p]Fulham had their moments in front of goal, creating another gilt-edged opportunity from a set piece, as the unmarked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rodrigo-muniz/A5ZlWABs/"]Rodrigo Muniz[/a] saw his goalbound header diverted away to safety by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wirtz-florian/0Q5gjImi/"]Florian Wirtz[/a].[/p][p]The London outfit continued to probe from corners, spurning another chance when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andersen-joachim/AmMLTTJU/"]Joachim Andersen[/a] climbed highest at the far post but could only divert Wilson’s delivery just wide of the post.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="d4210b5c-7401-418f-bf95-d79297805e0a" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="ba9e71bc-c609-4a3c-be2e-eeabe09d2415" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Smith Rowe had a glorious chance to halve the arrears when he turned wide from six yards out, and that proved to be Fulham’s last big chance of the game as they slumped to a ninth away league defeat of the season.[/p][p]Things look brighter for Liverpool, who prepared for their midweek UEFA Champions League game against PSG in the best possible fashion, where they’ll need a repeat scoreline to have any chance of progressing.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ngumoha-rio/rejpF30d/"]Rio Ngumoha[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a])[/b][/p][image alt="Momentum" id="00c27457-bc5e-44b1-98a4-3d6f3df7649d" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="76e45643-7b60-4844-8e3b-4036579cf242" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/fulham-69ZiU2Om/liverpool-lId4TMwf/?mid=jJ4pUVLr"]Catch up on the match here.[/a][/b][/p]