Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised the impact of Fulham winger Harry Wilson during the 1-1 second-leg Carabao Cup semi-final at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night.
Issa Diop cancelled out Luis Diaz’s first-half strike but it wasn’t enough to take Marco Silva’s men all the way to Wembley.
Speaking on the Football Daily Podcast, Jurgen Klopp was discussing a tough game for the Whites at Craven Cottage.
The odds were always going to be stacked against Fulham as they headed into the match looking to make up a 2-1 deficit and weren’t helped by an early Joao Palhinha miss.
Things went from bad to worse when Timothy Castagne was beaten in the air by Luis Diaz and the Colombian’s deflected strike found its way part Bernd Leno.
Liverpool were pressing with incredible intensity throughout the match and Fulham struggled to get into the game.
Joao Palhinha’s passing wasn’t quite on point, while Fulham didn’t get Willian involved in the game enough.
In the last 20 minutes that changed when Silva made some changes and brought on Harry Wilson.
The Welshman replaced Bobby De Cordova-Reid and made an immediate impact.
Wilson set up Issa Diop for the equaliser and Jurgen Klopp praised the Fulham attacker.
Unfortunately, the Whites couldn’t find a winner on the night that would have taken the game to penalties and from the spot, you would have backed Fulham to prevail after their performances from 12 yards this season.
Klopp praises Fulham substitute Wilson after Liverpool defeat
Reflecting on Fulham’s resurgence, Klopp said: “Absolutely, absolutely, that’s what you expect in that atmosphere.
“Then they go and score, a sensational situation from Harry Wilson and then we have to get it over the line and we did and we are really looking forward to Wembley as you can imagine.”
Wilson may have considered himself a little bit unlucky not to have started the match as De Cordova-Reid didn’t have the best game before the winter break against Chelsea.
However, as Klopp alluded to, Wilson did have the perfect impact for Fulham but couldn’t do enough to help the Whites make a very rare trip to Wembley.
Instead, attention will turn to Saturday when Silva’s side try and keep their FA Cup dream alive against Newcastle United.