There was a lack of conviction for too long, Fulham — led inspirationally by the tall Senegalese Papa Bouba Diop — were allowed back into the game and only the class and authority of Steven Gerrard ensured that Liverpool claimed the result they needed.
Morientes’s goal was a thing of beauty, a picture that will forever remain frozen in the minds of Liverpool fans. Luis Garcia, who had been seeking out Morientes with deliciously struck passes from the kick-off, suddenly produced the perfect one from wide on the right. Morientes soared through the air and met the ball with firm intent, his header looping with precise geometry over Edwin van der Sar and into the far corner.
Liverpool had started well and the resolution in midfield was strong, Gerrard providing the steel and Luis Garcia considerable elan. This was the first match back at Anfield since the 1-0 defeat against Manchester United which led to successive humiliations against Burnley and Southampton.
There was clearly a collective determination to show that the worst is behind them. Their movement was fluid and left Fulham flat-footed. They passed incisively from the back. Hyypia came almost to the half-way line and released Luis Garcia, whose sweet pass found Morientes on the edge of the area and only a stiff tackle kept the matador at bay.
Gerrard was the leader, as ever, skipping round Mark Pembridge before Zesh Rehman intervened. The perceptive movement was all too much for Fulham, who were lucky to escape without conceding a penalty when John Arne Riise played in Baros and Diop appeared to lay on a helping hand as the Czech fell inside the area.
Then Morientes produced his mastery and all seemed rosy in Anfield’s red garden. But the game suddenly changed when Luis Garcia slovenly lost the ball and all the doubt, all the recent failure, suddenly came to the surface and the confidence just seemed to evaporate.
Luis Boa Morte picked up possession on the left and picked out a perfect cross for Andy Cole. He and Cole were both aided by the negligence of the Liverpool defence but the Fulham striker’s header, for his 10th Premiership goal of the season, was clinically dispatched. Liverpool were a shadow of the former selves for the remainder of the half.
Jamie Carragher’s header from a Gerrard free kick lacked conviction and a long-range effort by Igor Biscan, after good work on the wing from Djimi Traore, was never likely to beat a goalkeeper of Van der Sar’s calibre. It was at Craven Cottage back in October that Liverpool found a reservoir of resilience that Rafa Benitez has since viewed as the benchmark for his team, an inspiring indication of what they can do. They were 2-0 behind at half-time.They came back and won 4-2. But against the same team, Liverpool struggled to summon the same spirit.
They took control from the start of the second half but it was a nervy kind of supremacy. Outright domination would not come easily. Chris Coleman’s team came here on the back of an eight-match unbeaten run, without defeat in five in the Premiership, and they were grimly resolved to extending the sequence. Patience was the key. Dietmar Hamann came on for Biscan and Liverpool’s midfield tightened their grip. Steve Finnan began to come forward on the overlap and threaten.
But it was Gerrard’s class which proved pivotal, his ability to do damage from a dead ball turning the game irrevocably Liverpool’s way. Riise was fouled and the Liverpool captain weighed up his options. The free-kick he delivered into the area was like an arrow and Hyypia was on the end of it with a header that flew past Van der Sar. The Kop roared their joy and relief.
Fulham’s stout rearguard effort was now about to crumble. Hamann tested the waters with a powerfully struck 30-yard drive that Van der Sar got his body behind. But the bodies fell around him a little later as Liverpool finally unlocked the door. There was more than a hint of doubt about the challenge with which Diop, who was fantastic for Fulham throughout, was beaten by Traore but from the moment Morientes was on the ball there was no doubt at all. Riise shouted over his left shoulder and received the pass running into the area before he centred the ball for Baros to provide the finish from 10 yards.