Liverpool today succeeded where Manchester United had failed, matching the battling spirit of Chris Coleman's Fulham to earn a dramatic 2-1 victory at Loftus Road.
Emile Heskey had opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 17th minute with a deft flick past Crossley from a Steve Finnan cross but Louis Saha had capitalised on some poor Liverpool defending to level it before half time.
In the second half both sides worked hard to get the winner and both 'keepers were required to pull off heroics.
After some dithering in the Liverpool defence and a poor attempted clearance by Igor Biscan, Louis Saha found himself in on goal once again and unleashed a powerful shot which Jerzy Dudek did well to stop one-handed.
Then at the other end Vladimir Smicer charged onto a through-ball, hitting a shot which deflected off Bonnissel and brought the best out of Crossley - who stretched out a glove to palm the ball over the crossbar.
Florent Sinama-Pongolle, brought on for the injured Heskey, won an 88th-minute penalty and Danny Murphy converted to clinch the win before Luis Boa Morte was sent off for an ugly lunge on Sinama-Pongolle.
Murphy made no mistake from the spot, sending Crossley the wrong way to slot home the winner. Boa Morte was booked as the teams lined up to kick off again. A minute later, the Portuguese winger - the last man as Fulham's defenders pushed up for a free-kick - made an horrendous lunge on Sinama-Pongolle as he advanced over the half-way line and the Fulham man was shown a straight red card by referee Rob Styles.
Filed by Barry J Whyte
