A wild January afternoon in west London felt like a microcosm of Liverpool’s season. With top scorer Hugo Ekitike sidelined by a muscle issue, Arne Slot’s side laboured through a first half that barely troubled Bernd Leno, only to fall behind to a neat finish from former Liverpool man Harry Wilson. The Reds rallied, found a controversial equaliser and even thought they had stolen it deep into stoppage time, only for a 97th-minute thunderbolt to snatch a point from under their noses. By the final whistle, relief for Fulham and frustration for Liverpool summed up a campaign of near-misses and late heartbreaks.
The moment that stole the headlines
The drama pivoted on Florian Wirtz’s leveller — a goal that sent ripples through the stadium and the punditry alike. Replays suggested Wirtz was marginally ahead of the last defender when the ball was played, and many inside Craven Cottage reacted as if the whistle had already blown on the goal. Wirtz himself admitted, “I was sure it was offside so I didn't even celebrate,” while Fulham boss Marco Silva conceded it looked offside but urged faith in the technology that confirmed the strike.
Why the goal was allowed to stand
The answer lies in the evolution of offside technology. Early VAR eras introduced a tolerance margin to account for technical inaccuracies, giving attackers a small benefit of the doubt. With the arrival of semi-automated offside technology, leagues across Europe have debated whether to revert to millimetre-precise calls or keep that margin. The Premier League opted to retain a small tolerance, meaning a player who appears fractionally offside on the raw data can still be deemed onside once that leeway is applied. In Wirtz’s case, the new system awarded him the benefit of the doubt, turning what looked like a marginal infringement into a match-changing goal.
Slot’s frustration and Liverpool’s recurring themes
Arne Slot’s post-match mood was a mixture of exasperation and weary acceptance. He pointed to a recurring pattern this season: the first chance the opposition gets often becomes a goal, and the unexpected sucker-punch in added time has become all too familiar. Slot defended his principles — he hasn’t abandoned his footballing philosophy — but acknowledged the constraints of personnel and the realities of a compact, defensive Fulham setup that made chances scarce. Despite extending their unbeaten run to nine, Liverpool’s inability to turn control into clear-cut dominance was laid bare once more.
The road ahead
With a return trip to London looming against league leaders Arsenal, Liverpool will be praying for fitness returns, particularly Ekitike’s recovery, to provide a focal point up front. The narrow margins that decided the Fulham game will feel even heavier as the calendar fills with fixtures against top opposition. For now, the Wirtz equaliser will be dissected not just for its technicalities but for what it revealed about a Liverpool side still searching for consistency and the ruthless edge that turns draws into wins.
