For a match involving two sides who were meant to have one foot on the beach this was a surprisingly lively affair. There were fireworks in the stands and excitement on the pitch as both Fulham and Liverpool looked to end their respective campaigns with a bang, no one more so than Daniel Sturridge who left here having scored his first hat-trick for Liverpool.

It all ultimately mattered for very little with the hosts coming into this game safe from relegation following Aston Villa’s defeat to Chelsea on Saturday and the visitors’ slim hopes of finishing above Everton ended after they defeated West Ham at Goodison Park, but they should both be praised for serving up such a hectic and committed display.

Back in west London for the first time since his arrival from Chelsea, Sturridge was the man who ultimately grabbed the headlines, much to the ire of the Fulham fans he goaded with a cupped-ear salute. “You’re just a shit Danny Welbeck” they roared back in disgust.

The shoulder operation Steven Gerrard has just undergone meant Liverpool were definitely going to be altered for this game, yet the arrival of the team-sheet still caused surprise. Not only had Brendan Rodgers made three changes to the side which drew with Everton last week, with one of them, Sebastian Coates, making just his second league start of the season, but he had also altered their formation. Coates joined Jamie Carragher and Andre Wisdom in a three-man defence with Glen Johnson and Stewart Downing deployed as wing-backs.

Fulham’s side also contained three changes, which was not a surprise given they came into this match on the back of four defeats. For both sides, however, the concern at kick-off was visibility after a plume of red smoke covered a large part of Liverpool’s half following the release of fireworks in the visitors’ end. Once the smoke had cleared, a lively encounter broke out and Sturridge could have given Liverpool the lead had he not miss-hit his close-range strike following Jordan Henderson’s low cross.

The visitors were dominating possession and territory and Fulham’s hopes of making a mark in the contest were not helped by an injury to Kieran Richardson after 15 minutes that led to him being replaced by Urby Emanuelson.

It was, however, Fulham who struck first after Berbatov found space inside the area on 33 minutes to head in Sasha Riether’s cross. Liverpool could only blame themselves for going behind given the Bulgarian was unmarked when he scored his 14th league goal of the season.

They were back on level terms just three minutes later, however, as Sturridge collected Wisdom’s long clearance and, having jinxed past Aaron Hughes, smashed a shot past Mark Schwarzer. Cue more red smoke.

Rodgers brought José Enrique on for Wisdom at the start of the second half and revered to his more accustomed 4-2-3-1 formation.

The men in red appeared comfortable in the shape yet almost found themselves going behind again on 54 minutes when the lively Alexander Kacaniklic, a former Liverpool player, surged towards goal and hit a drive that zipped just wide of the far post.

Six minutes later the Fulham players, along with their fans, were screaming for a penalty after Bryan Ruiz’s shot hit Lucas’s hand at close-range. The referee, Mark Halsey, turned down the appeals and the hosts mood darkened soon after when Sturridge scored his second goal, collecting Philippe Coutinho’s deflected shot to strike at the far post.

The forward then had a chance to seal his hat-trick after robbing Brede Hangeland of possession but his resulting shot was blocked by Schwarzer. Sturridge saw another shot saved by Schwarzer soon after following an excellent pass from Lucas that put three Liverpool players in on goal with only Hangeland to beat.

At the other end, Hughes forced Pepe Reina into a stunning save but Liverpool came again and hit the post through a shot by the substitute Fabio Borini before Sturridge got his third on 85 minutes, lifting the ball over Schwarzer following an exquisite through pass by Coutinho.

A news article on 2013-05-12 16:19:00 from: The Guardian

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