Star Metro - Liverpool held by Fulham after last-gasp Reed rocket

Gakpo had seemingly put Liverpool on course for victory at Craven Cottage with his strike in the fourth minute of stoppage-time.

But Reed hauled Fulham level with a superb long-range blast to dent Liverpool's push to finish in the Premier League's top four.

On a controversial afternoon in west London, Arne Slot's side had trailed to Harry Wilson's first-half goal.

Fulham's opener had been awarded after VAR rejected the initial offside decision against Wilson.

While that appeared to be the correct decision, there was far more doubt about Florian Wirtz's leveller.

The German was originally ruled offside and Fulham's players were so confident that was the right call that they had virtually stopped before Wirtz took his shoot.

However, the VAR official disagreed, ruling that Wirtz was played onside by the narrowest of the margins, even though his foot seemed in an offside position.

Fourth-placed Liverpool are now unbeaten in their last nine games in all competitions ahead of a trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal on Thursday.

But it was another far from convincing display from the Reds following the goalless stalemate against Leeds on New Year's Day.

French striker Hugo Ekitike was absent due to a hamstring injury and, with Alexander Isak also injured and Mohamed Salah at the Africa Cup of Nations, Slot used Wirtz, Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai in his makeshift attack.

- Drama at the death -

After kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes due to a medical emergency at Craven Cottage, Liverpool immediately looked out of sync.

Gakpo wasted two early opportunities with a deflected strike that whistled wide, before he made a hash of finishing off Curtis Jones' pass.

Liverpool were punished for their spluttering start in the 17th minute when Raul Jimenez's pass beat the Fulham offside trap.

With Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk flat-footed, Wilson scampered onto the through ball and planted a composed finish past Alisson Becker.

The goal was initially disallowed for offside before a VAR check allowed Wilson to celebrate scoring against his former club.

Alexis Mac Allister nearly ended Liverpool's malaise with a thumping header that smacked off the bar from Szoboszlai's corner early in the second half.

That was the spark for Liverpool's 57th-minute equaliser.

Conor Bradley surged through the heart of the Fulham defence and slipped a pass to Wirtz, who slotted into the far corner from six yards.

The German's celebrations were initially curtailed by the offside flag, but after a lengthy review he celebrated his second goal since his summer move from Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool had an incredible escape when Jimenez was unable to finish after bursting through, Wilson chipping the rebound onto the bar before Van Dijk cleared the follow-up off the line.

They looked set to make the most of that let-off when Gakpo prodded Jeremie Frimpong's cross into the net from close range in the dying moments.

But Reed had other ideas, leaving Liverpool stunned as he drove a sublime strike into the top corner from 30 yards for his first goal since April 2023.

A.Harris--SMC