Fulham player ratings from 1-1 EFL Cup semi-final draw against Liverpool – Commanding Tosin showing not enough to force tie to extra time

Fulham missed out on the chance to reach a first-ever major cup final after they fell to a 3-2 aggregate defeat against Liverpool in their EFL Cup semi-final.

The second leg of the tie at Craven Cottage ended in a 1-1 draw after Issa Diop cancelled out Luis Diaz’ early opener, but Fulham were unable to find another goal to take matters to extra time.

Here are Dan Evans’ player ratings from Craven Cottage.

Bernd Leno – 7

Will feel he could have kept out Diaz’ deflected strike early on but made excellent stops from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott in the second period to keep Fulham in the tie until the very last kick.

Timothy Castagne – 5

Not the full-back’s finest night. Diaz caused him all sorts of problems throughout the first half, and it was clear that Liverpool began targeting him with long passes into the space behind the Belgian. Was beaten in the air by Diaz in the build-up to Liverpool’s goal.

Tosin Adarabioyo – 8

A great performance from the commanding centre-back. He made five clearances, three tackles and two interceptions and marshalled Nunez well throughout, winning five of his six aerial duels. Fulham will hope a new contract to keep him at the club beyond the summer is not yet out of the question.

Issa Diop – 7

Not quite as imposing or confident on the ball as his centre-back partner but still did well in this one. Reacted with a strikers’ instinct to turn home a Harry Wilson cross and give Fulham hope in the closing stages.

Antonee Robinson – 7

Bombed down the left flank with some success in Fulham’s fast start to the game but could not pick out the right cross to cause Liverpool problems after seeing an early one pushed away by Caoimhin Kelleher. Three tackles and five clearances were proof of an assured defensive showing.

Andreas Pereira – 6

Sent a glorious chance to pull a goal back against the post in the second half. Was busy as usual but needed to show more composure to help Fulham sustain attacks for longer and deny Liverpool chances to break.

Joao Palhinha – 7

Ended up with another eye-catching tally of tackles, as he put in seven to try and halt floods of Liverpool attack when Fulham gave the ball away. Often left to do it all by himself but that is something he has rarely found a problem.

Tom Cairney – 6

Linked well with Willian down the left early on but needed to have a bigger influence if Fulham were to pull off an unlikely comeback.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid – 6

A quiet evening in attack and his defensive responsibilities were made more difficult by Liverpool left-back Joe Gomez regularly moving inside when the visitors had the ball. Replaced by Harry Wilson as Fulham chased a way back into the game.

Raul Jimenez – 6

Fulham massively struggled to get the striker involved. Had started relatively brightly, playing a particularly nice pass out to De Cordova-Reid on the right flank to begin an attack. The closest he came to a goal was a long-range strike that drew a save from Kelleher.

Willian – 6

Looked like he could be the vital component in Fulham’s attack up against young full-back Conor Bradley, but aside from a few early flashes, he struggled to make much of a mark. Another who Fulham could not quite get involved enough to stage the comeback.

Subs:

Harry Wilson – 7

Another impactful showing from the bench. Brilliant work down the left flank set up Fulham’s equaliser on the night, and his composure in attacking areas helped Fulham sustain attacks after a sluggish start to the second period.

Kenny Tete – NA

Rodrigo Muniz – NA

Harrison Reed – NA