by Full-time Jarell Quansah, his face contorting as the moment wore on, toured his fellow defenders and embraced each of them in turn. Finals are nothing new for Liverpool but to earn safe passage to your first is always special. For a long time they were pumped on a strange night in west London for long periods but Jürgen Klopp’s youngster passed the second of two very different tests.
Their first was to maintain control, and Liverpool did so with smothering conviction until the moment Issa Diop offered a way back for Fulham who had barely been signalled. Klopp had gambled on the outside to start Quansah ahead of Ibrahima Konaté, a World Cup finalist who knows firsthand that it takes brains, brawn and any nagging insecurities to be suspended. Quansah did all that was required, and more, duly served as an admirable testimony to his manager’s faith.
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It was Quansah, 11 minutes into a tie that Fulham were beginning to enjoy, who produced the latest of Liverpool’s booming switches down the left. Credit was later shared with Luis Díaz, who read the height and pace of the ball far more intelligently than Timothy Castagne and stole it in front of the Fulham right back. Fulham were exposed from there and, if some of the luck on the finish ricocheted, that was not a concern for Quansah. Liverpool spent much of Sunday’s impressive win at Bournemouth pinning early passes around the world and here, when he came to mind, he brought his personality to the task in decisive fashion.
This semi-final was a siege for the next hour. “Tonight is a great, great opportunity for this great club,” Fulham’s public address announcer had stressed before kick-off. Giving way early visibly and audibly he beat the wind from home sails, although there was hardly time to complete a turnaround without much major. Liverpool were physically, technically, a level higher in every department and Quansah set a purring tone from the back.
One minute, Quansah anticipated Fulham’s pass into the middle and walked 30 yards forward towards their penalty area before hitting another pass to the left; the next he was battling with Raúl Jiménez to meet Bernd Leno’s clearance, coming out on top before the starting spot could be laid out to the pressing Willian. At a strapping 6ft 3in Quansah is hardly an outsider to such a degree but the blend of timing and strength that has found one of the Premier Division’s best target men has been very appealing.
To his left Quansah could copy and paste from Virgil van Dijk, who had one of those games that raised him above mortals. Quansah was doing a pretty good job keeping up and, when Diop took advantage of a much-needed moment of spark with Harry Wilson to leave the Fulham players and the crowd smelling blood belatedly, adapted to the new dimensions of the night.
Now the flow of balls needed to be clear and, as Liverpool were scrambling and scrambling for the first time, calm heads were essential. When Quansah, with all the assurance of a veteran, saw the ball over the left-hand line in the second minute of added time, his team was almost home and dry.
Former Fulham youngster Harvey Elliott – who joined Quansah, Conor Bradley and substitute Bobby Clark in an impressive under-21 quartet – kicked off the evening with the local pantomime villain, his every touch a joke and jokingly shouted out when he left. early shot. But it quickly became clear that none of the Liverpool tyros would do anything but serve the scene.
It was a night of regret for Fulham, who were scary and tentative for the most part and only threatened by flickering until Diop’s intervention. It was the feeling that, against a weakened Liverpool, history was being made.
For mid-table clubs like this hammer, the reality is that football is about winning trophies and chasing dreams, even in an often impatient competition in this one, rather than celebrating the prize money accrued by gaining a few more places. the top flight.
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Another side is likely to get a similar chance to turn the dial next season: perhaps Crystal Palace, Wolves or whoever is teasing the Premier League’s mid-tables. Fulham never reached a League Cup final but they were delighted when it mattered here and may have regretted it.
Nothing of the sort could be leveled at Quansah, who hardly put a wrong foot in the world. “He’s just a good player, a very good player, that’s the most important thing,” Klopp said afterwards, explaining that his centre-back is firmly established as part of the rotation at this point. Perhaps the music will stop favorably enough to be presented at Wembley next month; either way, for Quansah more nights like this is a matter of time.
