Alternatives Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo came off the bench to help Liverpool win the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Fulham at home, ensuring that they will go to Craven Cottage with a 2-1 lead.

The two were brought on early in the second half as the home team was behind Willian’s goal in the 19th minute due to a Virgil van Dijk mistake.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, who helped transform a 3-2 Fulham lead into a 4-3 Reds victory in the Premier League encounter last month, was sidelined due to injury, but Jurgen Klopp’s substitutions changed the game, much like they did at Arsenal in the FA Cup this past weekend.

Gakpo offered calmness and control to midfield, while Nunez brought a directness that had been missing. Prior to being replaced by his Netherlands teammate, Ryan Gravenberch had not.

And only three minutes after Curtis Jones’ deflected equalizer, the two worked together to score for Gakpo in the 71st minute.

Real Madrid was the last side to triumph at Anfield in February. Before that, in October 2022, there was another team dressed in white: Leeds. Fulham, playing in their first League Cup semifinal, had to be feeling good about their start.

Conor Bradley, 20, filled in for Alexander-Arnold in just his second start of the year as part of Klopp’s six changes from the previous weekend. Van Dijk was also back.

The captain of the Netherlands returned from illness, but it cost him dearly to head a ball carelessly sideways on the boundary of his territory.

With a few deft moves, Willian created space for himself to shoot through the legs of the recovering Dutchman and gave goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher no chance. Andreas Pereira snuck in behind and cut the ball back to the penalty spot.

Shortly after, Van Dijk received a booking for striking Pereira in the face with his arm while he was still struggling.

However, his team’s build-up was too one-paced, matching his personal struggles.

Harvey Elliott was assigned to play on the right wing with Mohamed Salah; however, it appeared that part of his job was to cover Alexander-Arnold’s typical space by dropping deep as Bradley advanced in an orthodox over-lapping full-back fashion.

However, Fulham had more shots on goal in the first half, and the only other chances were an early Jones attempt that went straight at Bernd Leno and a Diogo Jota narrow-angle shot that went across the face of the goal.

After the interval, the action picked up speed. Gravenberch missed a shot, and Jota took a little too long to react after making space for himself by running squarely across the penalty box, giving Antonee Robinson a chance to block.

However, Fulham was able to take advantage of the opening in Liverpool’s defense as the home team pushed for an equalizer, and Kelleher dipped low to block a Bobby Decordova-Reid attempt.

Leno mishandled Alexis Mac Allister’s cross, but Jones’ long-range shot and deflection off Tosin Adarabioyo’s back proved to be fortunate for the equalizer.

Gakpo connected with Jota to head home Nunez’s near-post cross, testing Leno once more.

The action-packed Liverpool Before the second leg, the Uruguayan could have virtually guaranteed Liverpool’s trip to Wembley, but a full-stretch Leno deflected his header, parried a hard drive, and stopped his close-range attempt.