Liverpool beat Fulham 2-0, ending a three-game losing streak and relieving pressure on Arne Slott.
Rio Ngmoha became Liverpool’s youngest ever Premier League scorer at Anfield when he scored the opening goal at just 17 years and 225 days old. His commanding strike was followed minutes later by Mohamed Salah’s classic strike, giving the Egyptian his second goal in the Premier League since November and doubling their lead.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Despite conceding two or more goals in the final 20 minutes of Premier League games this season 18 times, with 19 shots on goal and nine corner kicks, Liverpool managed the game without any major concerns and will be looking to overturn a 2-0 deficit to PSG in the Champions League.
The victory gave Liverpool a cushion in the race for the final Champions League spot, leaving them four points behind sixth-placed Chelsea. Chelsea will take on Manchester City in a match that will be broadcast live on Super Sunday.
The Dutchman was in the spotlight heading into this game as Slott’s side have won just two of their last eight games in all competitions, losing to Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain last week.
Liverpool were helped in the first half by Fulham, who were playing for the first time in three weeks but were struggling to find their form, but Gumoha and Salah did some damage.
Florian Wirtz’s driving run led to the opening goal in the 36th minute, before Gumoja scored with the wrong foot of Timothy Castagne and curled low into the top corner.
It was the 17-year-old’s first goal since scoring a dramatic late winner against Newcastle in August.
Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoja celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Four minutes later, with Liverpool extending their lead to two points, Ngmoha was on again, this time picking out Gakpo, who controlled and laid it off before Salah slotted home.
It was only the Egyptian’s sixth Premier League goal of the season, after scoring 29 goals in last season’s title-winning season.
Fulham were in control after half-time, but Sasa Lukic’s goal was ruled out for offside, Rodrygo Muniz had a free header missed and Emile Smith Rowe went wide from 12 yards.
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Redknapp offers insight into Ngmoha’s rise to Liverpool’s first team
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Jamie Redknapp has told how he was surprised by Rio Ngmoja’s speed when he saw him training at home, praising his work ethic and natural talent.
Jamie Redknapp of Sky Sports:
“The potential was very obvious. Everyone could see it. He had a kind of natural X-factor.
“He was at Chelsea at the same time as my youngest son and we trained together in the same group.
“It was quite amazing to see that. His older brother, who played a big role in his career, was definitely his development. He used to coach me one on one a lot and he even came to my house a few times and I just watched how he worked in Rio.”
“I had never seen a kid this fast before, but it was repetitive.
For those who don’t know about his journey. He was one of Chelsea’s highly rated players. they loved him. I wanted to keep him. Liverpool came in. He left Liverpool at 16 to go up there and it must have been really hard for him. It probably took a while to calm down. His first year at the academy probably didn’t go as planned.
“This year he forced his way into the first-team squad and now, as you can see with the goal against Newcastle and the goal against Fulham, he is improving.”
Slot: Ngumoha is worth playing
Liverpool manager Arne Slott spoke to Sky Sports about Gumoha.
“One of his strengths is his one-on-one dominance. This season we’ve seen him getting more and more playing time. He’s been doing really well every time he’s played, so that’s what he deserves.”
“His influence on the game is huge, like today against Wolves. Today he also scored a goal. It’s an important goal in football because goals are very important.”
“We’ve played a lot of games like this this season, but unfortunately they didn’t necessarily lead to wins or clean sheets. I think we deserved the win, but we didn’t completely dominate the game. “But we’ve played a lot of games where deflected shots and set-pieces led to goals, resulting in draws or losses.
“I won’t say it was luck, but the game finally turned out to be just.”
