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Mohamed salah saved From Liverpool he blushed when the Egyptian’s late penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw against Fulham on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp’s side was punished for a sloppy first-half performance at Craven Cottage when Bobby Decordova-Reid gave Fulham a surprising lead.
But Salah rescued the Premier League champions after Aboubakar Kamara drove with 11 minutes to go.
Liverpool remain in second place and rank behind leader Tottenham in goal difference.
Crystal Palace’s late draw in their 1-1 draw against Tottenham just before Liverpool’s start had given the Reds a chance to go up if they won in West London.
Instead, they will have to wait until Wednesday’s summit meeting with Tottenham at Anfield for their next chance to knock José Mourinho’s team out of pole position.
Liverpool are undefeated in their last eight league games but have been far from their best level of fluency and have not won in their last five league games away from home.
In addition to Klopp’s concerns, Joel Matip suffered a back injury that led him to join Liverpool’s long list of injuries that already included his central teammates Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Klopp’s pregame admission that Diogo Jota will be out for up to eight weeks with a knee injury leaves the Reds boss relying on Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane to lead the attack during the hectic Christmas period. and New Year.
Fulham has just two wins in its last 11 games in all competitions, but this energetic effort showed that Scott Parker’s fourth bottom is capable of avoiding relegation.
Klopp had warned his players not to underestimate Fulham as they watched Tottenham’s game, but his erratic performance suggested they had not been listening carefully.
With coronavirus restrictions relaxed in London, it was the first time Fulham was able to have fans in its stadium since last season’s promotion.
Ivan Cavaleiro came close to giving the perfect welcome to those 2,000 fans when Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker saved his stinging goal in the fourth minute.
Cavaleiro threatened again when his timely run overcame Liverpool’s offside trap, but his low shot was superb from Alisson.
Liverpool had a penalty scare when Fabinho’s sliding tackle on Cavaleiro was reviewed by the VAR, but referee Andre Marriner chose not to award a penalty after consulting the pitch monitor.
Fulham was frustrated by that decision, but they kept up the pressure and Ademola Lookman’s 20-yard march forced another good save from Alisson.
Even Alisson had no response when Fulham finally scored the goal his dominance deserved in the 25th minute.
Salah gave up possession after a push to the Egyptian who went unpunished at the edge of the Liverpool box.
Lookman passed the ball to Decordova-Reid and the winger delivered an unstoppable blow that passed Alisson in the far corner.
Mane should have done better than the squandering head from the center of Curtis Jones before Salah spun around to shoot from very close.
Matip’s injury forced the Liverpool defender to retire at halftime, with Japanese forward Takumi Minamino dispatched and midfielder Jordan Henderson moving to center back.
Cavaleiro overcame Liverpool’s reshuffled rear with ease after a mistake by Andrew Robertson, forcing Alisson to save his effort.
With Fulham defending more deeply as the half advanced, Henderson was able to get ahead and took a good save from Alphonse Areola after rushing to Firmino’s pass.
Liverpool dominated the final stages and leveled in the 79th minute when Kamara blocked Georginio Wijnaldum’s free kick with his arm.
Salah’s penalty was poorly executed, but still slipped under Areola’s feeble attempt to save his 13th goal of the season.
