At full-time Jarell Quansah, his face breaking into a broad grin as the moment sank in, conducted a tour of his fellow defenders and embraced each of them in turn. Finals are nothing new to Liverpool but earning safe passage to your first is always special. They had belatedly been put under the pump on what, for long periods, was a curiously flat night in west London but Jürgen Klopp’s young brood passed the second of two very different tests.
The first of them was to maintain control, and Liverpool did that with smothering conviction until the moment Issa Diop offered Fulham a route back that had barely been signposted. Klopp had outwardly taken a gamble in starting Quansah ahead of Ibrahima Konaté, a World Cup finalist who knows at first hand that knockout ties require brain, brawn and a suspension of any nagging uncertainties. Quansah duly served up everything required, and more, in a virtuoso vindication of his manager’s faith.
It was Quansah, 11 minutes into a tie Fulham had been starting to relish, who struck the latest of Liverpool’s big, booming switches of play out to the left flank. Credit after that was shared with Luis Díaz, who read the height and pace of the ball far more smartly than Timothy Castagne and stole in front of the Fulham right-back. Fulham were exposed from there and, if the ricocheted finish came with a portion of luck, that was no concern for Quansah. Liverpool spent much of the resounding win at Bournemouth on Sunday pinging early passes out wide and here, upon his recall, he had brought his personality to the task in decisive fashion.
This semi-final was a letdown for the next hour. “Tonight is a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for this great club,” Fulham’s public address announcer had stressed before kick-off. Conceding early visibly and audibly knocked the wind from home sails, even though time to effect a turnaround was hardly at a premium. Liverpool were physically, technically, a level higher in every department and a purring Quansah set a tone from the back.
One moment, Quansah was anticipating a Fulham pass into the middle and striding 30 yards forward towards their penalty area before whipping another pass leftwards; the next he was battling Raúl Jiménez to meet a Bernd Leno clearance, coming out on top before the centre-forward could lay off to an onrushing Willian. At a strapping 6ft 3in Quansah is hardly a rank outsider in such tussles but the blend of timing and strength that saw off one of the Premier Division’s better target man was eye-catching.
To his left Quansah could copy and paste from Virgil van Dijk, who had one of those games that elevate him above mere mortals. Quansah was doing a good enough job of keeping up and, when Diop profited from a sorely-needed moment of spark from Harry Wilson to leave Fulham’s players and crowd belatedly scenting blood, adapted to the night’s new dimensions.
Now a stream of balls needed heading clear and, as Liverpool scraped and snatched for the first time, calm heads were essential. When Quansah, with all the assurance of a veteran, saw the ball over the left touchline in the second minute of added time, his team were nearly home and dry.
The former Fulham youngster Harvey Elliott – who joined Quansah, Conor Bradley and the substitute Bobby Clark in a deeply impressive quartet of under-21s – had begun the evening as the local pantomime villain, his every touch booed and mocking jeers ringing out when he miscued an early shot. But it rapidly became clear that none of the Liverpool tyros would do anything but meet the moment.
It was a night of regret for Fulham, who were scratchy and tentative for the majority and only threatened in flickers until Diop’s intervention. The sense had been that, against an outwardly weakened Liverpool, history lay in the making.
For a mid-table club occasions such as this hammer home the reality that football is about winning trophies and pursuing dreams, even in a competition as oft‑maligned in this one, rather than celebrating the prize money accrued by rising another couple of places in the top flight.
Another side will probably get a similar chance to shift the dial next season: maybe Crystal Palace, Wolves or any of those bobbing around in the Premier League’s distended middle ranks. Fulham have never reached a League Cup final but were cowed when it mattered here and may regret it.
Nothing of the sort could be levelled at Quansah, who barely put a foot wrong throughout. “He’s just a good player, a really good player, that’s the really 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 favourably enough to pitch him in at Wembley next month; either way, for Quansah more nights such as this are a matter of time.
