NOVEMBER 2
Murphy: Reds back on track
PA
Match-winner Danny Murphy believes Liverpool are
moving in the right direction after collecting their
third straight win at Fulham this afternoon.
 Murphy
converted from the penalty spot two minutes from time to
seal a 2-1 win for the Reds, after Zat Knight was
penalised for a foul on Liverpool substitute Florent
Sinama-Pongolle.
Murphy and Reds celebrate his
winning goal. (Photo: Empics)
Earlier England striker Emile Heskey had fired
Liverpool into the lead, only for Louis Saha to level
the scores from close range, before Luis Boa Morte was
dismissed in the dying seconds for a crude challenge on
Sinama-Pongolle.
And Murphy told Sky Sports Premiership Live he was not
nervous about the late responsibility.
He said: “I like taking penalties – I actually enjoy
it.
“Luckily for me Michael (Owen), who would have taken it,
had gone off about 10 minutes earlier.
“More importantly for us it was a great win because
we’ve had a sticky patch lately. But that’s three wins
on the spin now – and that’s a good confidence booster.
“Maybe a point wouldn’t have been a bad result for us –
but we always though we had it in us to win the game.”
Murphy is pleased Gerard Houllier’s decision to play
more attacking football is paying off.
He said: “We’ve started trying to play a bit more
attacking football and you saw that in the formation
today.
“Hopefully we’ve got the balance right now, winning
games is what we want to achieve.”
NOVEMBER 2
Captain praises Dudek
By Gary Purvis - LFC Online
Steven Gerrard has praised Jerzy Dudek for his
performance that enabled Liverpool to overcome Fulham
today.
"It was two good teams, up and down," said Gerrard. "You
can always expect that at Fulham.
"We were confident coming here that we could get three
points. We were very disappointed after the Portsmouth
game to have lost our fourth game of the season so it's
time to go on a run now and pick up three points and I
thought we deserved the three points here today.
"Jerzy was brilliant. He's bounced back after his bit of
a blip last season and he's been very strong for us this
season. Hopefully he can continue that for us as we go
on this run."
NOVEMBER 2
GH delighted with
Fulham win
LFC Official Website
Gerard Houllier was delighted with his side's
performance in the 2-1 win against Fulham, and praised
the character of his players.
The Reds manager believes Fulham are a good side and had
special praise for Sami Hyypia who was excellent at the
back and goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek for some brilliant saves
to deny Louis Saha.
Houllier said: "It was a very good performance and a
very good result. They are a good side and you can see
why they beat the champions last week at Old Trafford.
They have some very skilful players.
"We controlled the majority of the play in the first
half then couldn't get the second goal. They scored and
it made us a bit nervous. Jerzy Dudek made some
fantastic saves, especially one from Saha at the start
of the second half and I thought Sami Hyypia was
brilliant for us at the back.
"Florent Sinama-Pongolle did very well again when he
came on and he would have scored had he not been brought
down for the penalty."
NOVEMBER 2
Liverpool edge past Fulham
BBC Sport Online
A late Danny Murphy penalty denied Fulham the chance
to move into the top four of the Premiership as Chris
Coleman's side lost for the second successive time at
Loftus Road.
Emile Heskey scored his third goal in two games to give
Liverpool the lead but Fulham's Louis Saha equalised
just before the interval.
With the game heading towards a draw the match was
changed by Gerard Houllier's introduction of Florent
Sinama-Pongolle.
The French youngster was brought down by Zat Knight to
secure the penalty and a minute later a brutal challenge
on the Liverpool substitute by Luis Boa Morte saw the
Portuguese international red-carded.
Last weekend Fulham surprisingly beat Manchester United
at Old Trafford and after a shaky start on Sunday, Chris
Coleman's team again put on an impressive display, only
to be let down by indiscipline in those frantic closing
stages.
In the opening exchanges Fulham had struggled to cope
with the movement of Vladimir Smicer, Harry Kewell,
Michael Owen and Heskey and Steven Gerrard's domination
of midfield.
Heskey almost profited from a neat interchange
between Kewell and Smicer, but the Czech Republic
international's pass was just too strong for the England
striker.
The reprieve for Fulham proved all too brief as
Liverpool deservedly took the lead when Heskey nipped in
front of Andy Melville and volleyed Steve Finnan's
left-footed cross past Mark Crossley.
Just after the hour Heskey almost claimed a second as he
pounced on the rebound from a Smicer shot, but the
England striker screwed his shot wide.
Fulham threatened intermittently, primarily through
Liverpool's susceptibility in central defence to the
long ball.
Twice Louis Saha almost capitalised as Sami Hyypia and
Igor Biscan pushed up, notably on the second occasion
after Jerzy Dudek slipped as he came to claim the ball.
Soon after Heskey's goal Saha also went close from a
corner, but he put his header wide.
Saha's persistence was finally rewarded as the Frenchman
claimed his sixth goal of the season.
Moritz Volz ran half the length of the pitch to reach
the penalty area and poked the ball back to Steed
Malbranque.
The Frenchman's cross was deflected off Gerrard into the
path of Saha, who stroked the ball past Dudek.
Emboldened by his goal, Saha then had a low shot pushed
on to the woodwork by Dudek in the first half's closing
stages.
Within minutes of the restart, Saha drew an even better
save from Dudek, when his fiercely hit shot was superbly
parried one-handed by the Polish goalkeeper.
Crossley made an equally impressive one-handed save to
push a Smicer chip over the bar.
Houllier's decision to bring on Sinama-Pongolle
proved a masterstroke.
With two minutes remaining the Frenchman nudged the ball
past Knight, who brought the Liverpool striker down and
Murphy made no mistake with his penalty.
Then Boa Morte's dangerous tackle on Sinama-Pongolle saw
the Fulham winger receive a red card from referee Rob
Styles.
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