Liverpool come back to beat Fulham 2-1 in League Cup semi first leg
Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo scored three minutes apart as Liverpool fought back from a goal down to beat Fulham 2-1 in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final at a chilly Anfield on Wednesday.
Fulham took a first-half lead with a goal from Willian and then sat back and looked to hit Liverpool on the break, frustrating Juergen Klopp's side until the 68th minute when Jones and then Gakpo struck in quick succession.
"It's the mentality in the group, in the club, in the city, just keep going and it doesn't matter what happens and we showed that again today," Gakpo told Sky Sports. "If you have that mentality a lot of things can happen."
Fulham threatened to hand the record nine-time League Cup winners their first home defeat across all competitions this season after Willian scored in the 19th minute. Capitalising on Virgil van Dijk's poor clearance, the Brazilian slotted home from the edge of the six-yard box between keeper Caoimhin Kelleher's legs.
"It wasn't our best game we ever played. I told the boys we are human beings," Klopp said.
Premier League-leading Liverpool dominated possession and finally got the better of Fulham's well-organised back line when Jones netted, his shot from 25 metres out taking a big deflection off the back of Tosin Adarabioyo.
Substitute Gakpo, who has scored in all four of his League Cup games for Liverpool, fired the home team in front in the 71st, tapping in Darwin Nunez's cross at the near post to send fans home happy after they extended their remarkable home record this season to 14 victories and two draws.
"In the first half it was tough, we had all the ball but couldn't find the back of the net and in the second half we changed that around," Jones told Sky Sports. "The fans are leaving with smiles on their faces so I'm happy."
Klopp's side had 21 shots to Fulham's six, and the addition of Gakpo and Nunez in the second half made all the difference.
"(Jones) got a very important goal to get us back in the game and after that I felt we really dominated, not only with possession but creating chances and then the second so I was happy," Gakpo said.
"I love playing with these guys. We showed good mentality and have to keep going as it's only the first leg of this game."
The match marked the seventh time Liverpool have won after conceding the first goal in all competitions this season, the most of any side in England's top four tiers in 2023-24.
Liverpool were missing talisman Mohamed Salah, the Premier League's joint top scorer this season who is with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who injured his knee in Sunday's FA Cup third-round win over Arsenal.
Klopp praised the "exceptional" performance of 20-year-old Conor Bradley, who started in defence in place of Alexander-Arnold.
"He will probably fall asleep in the dressing room," Klopp said. "Wonderful, what a boy, what a character. Everyone loves him."
Liverpool will travel to Craven Cottage for the second leg on Jan. 24.
"We knew it was going to be a tough one. You can't play for a final thinking it's not going to be really hard," said Fulham manager Marco Silva, whose Cottagers are making their League Cup semi-final debut.
"At home, with our fans behind us, it's going to be a great night for Fulham Football Club."
Chelsea suffered a surprise 1-0 loss at second-tier Middlesbrough in the first leg of the other semi-final on Tuesday.
Last-gasp goals earn Real 5-3 win over Atletico
An own goal by defender Stefan Savic and a strike by Brahim Diaz late in extra time gave Real Madrid a 5-3 comeback win over city rivals Atletico in a rip-roaring Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Riyadh on Wednesday.
Real will face the winners of Thursday's clash between Barcelona and Osasuna in the final on Sunday.
The rivalry, the comeback and the stakes combined to make this arguably the best match of the Spanish season, with two fearless sides battling for 120 minutes in a breathtaking derby.
"It was spectacular, but we don't enjoy matches like this," Real manager Carlo Ancelotti told Movistar Plus.
"The wear and tear has been tremendous. Because we are two very strong teams who have given everything."
Atletico, who inflicted Real's only loss of the season in September, started the game on top with Brazilian winger Samuel Lino almost opening the scoring with a curling strike that was saved by goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
However, there was nothing Kepa could do when Antoine Griezmann lifted his corner into the box and defender Mario Hermoso sent a towering header flying past the keeper to give his side the lead in the seventh minute.
Real fought back through an Antonio Rudiger header from a Luka Modric corner in the 20th minute and a Ferland Mendy close-range strike, before Griezmann worked his magic in the 37th minute with a brilliant long-range strike.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak made a stunning stop with his legs to deny a Rodrygo close-range strike and the scores were level at halftime.
Real Madrid targeted the right side of Atletico's defence and Vinicius Jr. took advantage with a quick free kick to Dani Carvajal whose thunderous strike was brilliantly saved by Oblak.
Atletico retook the lead in the 78th minute thanks to a calamitous attempted clearance from goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga who punched the ball on to his team mate Rudiger and it ended up in the net.
Real equalised through Dani Cavajal who converted a rebound after Oblak made two fine saves from Vinicius and Jude Bellingham.
With a penalty shootout looming, Joselu's header bounced off Savic into Atletico's net five minutes from the end of extra time to deliver a hammer blow to Atletico.
In the last play of the match, Diaz finished off a counter- attack into an empty net after Oblak went up to Real's box in a desperate attempt to equalise from a corner.
"I told my players that I'm really proud of them, they played a great game and we were very close, but it was an unfortunate outcome...," Atletico manager Diego Simeone told Movistar Plus.
The city rivals will clash again next week as Atletico host Real in an elimination game in the Copa del Rey last 16. In three weeks time, they will square up again at the Santiago Bernabeu in a LaLiga match.
Lazio beat Roma to book Coppa Italia semi-final berth
Lazio secured a Coppa Italia semi-final place with an ill-tempered 1-0 victory over AS Roma on Wednesday courtesy of Mattia Zaccagni's penalty.
Zaccagni broke the deadlock from the spot six minutes into the second half after Roma's new signing Dean Huijsen had fouled Taty Castellanos.
Roma came close to securing a late equaliser, but Lazio goalkeeper Christos Mandate made an impressive save from Andrea Belotti's half-volley.
To add to Roma manager Jose Mourinho's woes, his Argentine forward Paulo Dybala was substituted at halftime due to injury.
"I felt that in the first half, we were the team with the most character, set out well, but when you lose Dybala, it all changes," Mourinho told Mediaset.
"Without Paulo, there is no connection between attack and defence, while the quality level drops.
"I am a little disappointed with a few individuals, as we ought to do more. We work so hard to get the ball to the flanks and then don’t put the crosses in."
Romelu Lukaku went close to an equaliser for Roma in the closing stages, but his overhead kick narrowly sailed over the bar.
Late in added time, tensions flared when Lazio's Pedro received a second yellow card following an altercation with Leandro Paredes and Roma's Sardar Azmoun was shown a red card for striking Nicolo Rovella.
Roma's Gianluca Mancini received a red card for dissent after the final whistle.
Lazio will meet Juventus or Frosinone, who meet on Thursday, in the semi-finals.
Koopmeiners leads Atalanta past Milan into Coppa semis
Teun Koopmeiners scored twice as Atalanta came back from a goal down to beat AC Milan 2-1 at the San Siro in their Coppa Italia quarter-final on Wednesday.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock for Milan just before halftime with an elegant first-time finish from Theo Hernandez's pass, but three minutes later an unmarked Koopmeiners received a ball from Emil Holm before guiding a shot into the far corner.
Koopmeiners completed the comeback for Atalanta in the 59th minute when he converted a penalty after Alex Jimenez fouled Aleksei Miranchuk.
"We should've defended much better on the equaliser, but the truth is that the game changed with a non-existent penalty,” Milan manager Stefano Pioli told Mediaset.
"After that, we lost our heads, lost our shape and our control of the game. We struggled to take back that balance and control we had in the first half.
"We could’ve reacted better. I do understand the frustration of the players going 2-1 down like that after doing well, but there was still plenty of time to get back into it and we didn’t take those chances that we created."
Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini was sent off late in the first half after a heated conversation with the referee that persisted despite an initial warning.
Under Gasperini, Atalanta have reached the Coppa semi-finals four times.
"It’s true we do not have any silverware, and while the Champions League or Scudetto are not really on our level, we did reach the Coppa Italia final a few times and we do still want to go all the way eventually," Gasperini said.
The closing minutes intensified as a desperate Milan threw everything forward, but Atalanta keeper Marco Carnesecchi stopped attempts from Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah.
In the dying seconds, Milan's hopes were raised as an alleged handball by Miranchuk inside the box underwent a VAR-check but it was dismissed.
Milan's back-up goalkeeper Antonio Mirante received a direct red card from the bench for dissent following his protest against the decision.
Atalanta will play Fiorentina in a two-legged semi-final in April following Vincenzo Italiano's side's win over Bologna on penalties on Tuesday.
