Fulham - 1 Liverpool- 2 The substitutes' board can be mistaken for the white flag. When Gerard Houllier took off Michael Owen in the 77th minute it looked as if the Liverpool manager had abandoned the bid for victory. It was as if the long-term health of the recently injured forward mattered more than an improvement in league position.
After all, there was only the 19-year-old Florent Sinima-Pongolle to replace him. Popular as he already is, he would not be expected to transform a game that seemed to have its heart set on a 1-1 draw. His youth, however, was no impediment to hoodwinking a callow defender.
With two minutes remaining, his jink to the right bamboozled Zat Knight and the Fulham defender brought him down for a penalty that was converted with authority by Danny Murphy for the winner.
Luis Boa Morte, booked then for unjustified dissent, was to be reduced to even greater misery by Sinima-Pongolle.
As the teenager broke in the 90th minute, the midfielder brought him down with a ghastly high tackle just inside the Fulham half.
Sinima-Pongolle will collect such bruises because he is one of those individualist attackers who cause other kinds of damage. "He is far from being the finished article, but he has got lightning pace and I am telling you, he would have scored if he hadn't been brought down for the penalty," said Houllier.
That was a tendentious claim, but Sinima-Pongolle must be a remarkable prospect if he can make a seasoned manager over-excited. The youngster, however, will not be asked to supplant Owen on a permanent basis if Houllier is a reliable judge of the mood of the England forward, for whom Real Madrid are supposed to be considering a £25 million bid.
The manager suggested that the offer could even be rejected even if the digits in that figure were reversed. Since Owen's contract ends in 2005, however, Liverpool will have to accept whatever money is available if he wishes to leave. At Anfield, they still flinch at the recollection of Steve McManaman's departure to Madrid as a free agent.
"I'm sure Michael won't do what McManaman did," said Houllier. "I am convinced he wants to stay."
The new captain Steven Gerrard is thought to be even closer to agreeing a fresh deal and there were passages yesterday when Liverpool looked like a team on the rise. Prior to the interval, they were much superior to adversaries who had won at Manchester United in their previous outing.
And Liverpool were ahead after just 17 minutes. The former Fulham full-back Steve Finnan made space to send in a left-foot cross from the right and Emile Heskey, stepping ahead of Andy Melville, volleyed home sharply. The goalkeeper Mark Crossley, in the side because of Edwin van der Saar's groin injury, might have thought this was an inopportune moment to step into the line-up.
Fulham, however, came up with an unexpected equaliser in the 39th minute. Malbranque got behind the otherwise excellent Gerrard on the right and when the captain tried to block the resulting cross he merely poked the ball across the goal to Saha, who forced the ball home despite a touch by Jerzy Dudek.
The path to the equaliser was opened up by a marauding Moritz Volz and there is conjecture that Arsenal, who can reclaim their right-back at 24 hours notice, will end his loan spell now that Lauren is about to be suspended, but Coleman preferred optimism. "He wasn't even on the bench for Arsenal so maybe they won't call him back," the manager said.
Fulham improved after the interval here and were worth a draw. It took a fine one-handed save by Dudek to stop Saha putting Fulham ahead in the 49th minute, but when Mark Crossley displayed similar reactions to thwart Vladimir Smicer goalkeepers appeared to have preserved the deadlock. Fulham, though, could have held the advantage if Murphy had been sent off, rather than booked, for an ugly challenge on Malbranque after 54 minutes.
If Liverpool, who stand seventh in the table, are starting to get lucky they are doing so with perfect timing. They are at home to Manchester United in their next Premiership fixture.
