Fulham manager Marco Silva wasn’t happy with Fulham’s first half performance at Anfield, with two quickfire goals earning Liverpool the three points.
Clinical finishes from Rio Ngumoha and Mohamed Salah before the break proved the difference, though the Whites were much improved after the break.
“Yes, it's true – the game was decided in five minutes,” Silva said. “In my opinion it was decided in that first half, where our approach was not aggressive enough, on and off the ball.
“We gave Liverpool the chance to build up their attack too easily in some moments, not with the right aggressiveness off the ball. That was the reason why they had the chances and they were in command of the game most of the time during the first half.
“And the good example of that is the way they score the first goal – a long ball from the goalkeeper, the way they were able to win that ball in the air, lack of communication between two players, Salah’s first contact on the ball, the way they won the second ball before the great finishing of Rio.
“I think it’s a good example about our approach during that first half that was not aggressive enough for the level of a game in the Premier League, and a game that we wanted to win, and had the ambition to win.
“Second half was completely different – our approach, our aggressiveness on and off the ball. I know that Liverpool was winning the game, but the way we won many balls in our offensive half, we were much more aggressive, we created much more chances as well.
“Of course, we were not ruthless enough, because with a goal we can create a different scenario in the stadium, in the opposition side as well. We got a big chance with Emile to score, and the game is going to be probably different [if it goes in].
“We tried to score the 2-1, but we were not ruthless. Liverpool when they had the chances, first half, they did it, and that made a big impact in the game.
“But our face and our image as a team is much more that second half than the first half. For us to win games and to be fighting for what we want to fight for, has to be much more in the way we played second half than we did first half.”