Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he was very happy with his team’s spirited performance as his Reds beat Fulham 1-0 at Anfield.
Liverpool bossed proceedings for the majority of the match but Fulham had chances of their own to respond to Mohamed Salah’s first-half penalty, with Klopp speaking to Premier League Productions (quotes via BBC Sport) and giving credit to his London opponents.
“Very happy. Super strong opponent. I can’t respect any more what Marco Silva is doing there.
“I thought we controlled big parts of the game in the first half but in the second half, it opened up. A really good team. It was tricky until the end. Five wins in a row is good. I liked it a lot.”
Salah gave Liverpool the lead on 39 minutes from the spot after Darwin Nunez was fouled by Issa Diop, but Vinicius and Bobby Reid skewed a couple of guilt-edged opportunities for Fulham to aid them in coming away with a result and Klopp acknowledged their missed chances.
“They had big chances so could have scored. We had moments in the first half that we should have scored. That’s how it is. You have to create. I saw big fight, really good spirit and the boys were flying into the challenges.
“Of course, we can control the game in these moments better but we can improve. We have played much worse in the past.”
The German touched on his side earning a clean sheet, their 12th of the league season and admitted that Alisson was very emotional at full-time.
“Alisson was close to crying with a clean sheet. It’s pretty rare for us this season! It’s very nice, especially for him.”
The win for Liverpool sees them rise to 5th, four points behind 4th-placed Manchester United and Klopp reiterated his happiness with the victory as the Reds build a head of steam entering the season’s run-in.
“Super important. That’s what I said. We have to try to do something we can use. Something we can build on in the next season. That’s exactly what we did and I’m pleased with that.”
Klopp and his side will now look ahead to their next match against Brentford on Saturday evening as they look to make it six victories in a row.