Pundit Chris Sutton has criticised Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno after the Whites fell to a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Marco Silva’s side had to overturn a first-leg deficit but Luis Diaz made sure they made a mountain to climb in the early minutes of the game.
Speaking on the Football Daily Podcast, Chris Sutton has called out the German international for his role in Fulham’s 1-1 draw on Wednesday night.
Liverpool are the best side in the country right now, but on each occasion the two sides have met this season, Fulham have run them incredibly close.
It took four of the best goals scored in the Premier League this season to defeat Silva’s side in their first meeting.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the first leg, Leno was only beaten by a heavily deflected Curtis Jones strike before Cody Gakpo immediately scored the winner.
Sutton wasn’t impressed with Leno’s attempts to keep out Liverpool star Luis Diaz’s effort in the 11th minute.
Joao Palhinha had already missed a great chance for the hosts, but a poor attempt to clear a long ball by Timothy Castagne handed the Colombian his chance.
However, Sutton’s criticism seems very harsh when taking a closer look at the goal.
Sutton not happy with Leno during Liverpool defeat
Speaking about Fulham’s performance, Sutton said: “I think they were affected by some average goalkeeping, well useless goalkeeping and that’s the truth.
“You can’t do it at this level against a team who are seemingly growing in confidence, a team who have won so many trophies over the past however many years, you can’t do it against a team like Liverpool and that was the deciding factor in the game, weak goalkeeping cost Fulham.”
Leno did get a hand to Diaz’s shot but Sutton’s verdict on Liverpool’s only goal of the game is harsh, to say the least.
His shot arrived by two deflections off Fulham defenders and at that point, Leno is simply hoping that the ball hits his hand and deflects away.
Unfortunately, it only tucks inside his near post and he more than made up for that with a fantastic stop to deny Darwin Nunez in the second half.
Harry Wilson and Issa Diop combined to give the Whites a way back into the game but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
Fulham fans have witnessed some unbelievable performances from the German during his time at the club.
He’s likely to drop out of the side for Saturday’s match against Newcastle in the FA Cup.
Marek Rodak typically gets the nod in the early rounds of cup competitions and has performed admirably thus far.