Fulham 1, Liverpool 0 (D,Post)

May 7 2007 by Ben Thornley at Craven Cottage

THE domestic football which has punctuated Liverpool’s Champions League adventure this season has often been forgettable.

But Harry Kewell, the forgotten man of Anfield, will be hoping to leave a lasting impression on his manager in what little remains of the term.

For the Australian alone, the end of the club’s Premiership campaign might have come too soon, the winger making his first appearance in red since the 2006 FA Cup victory in this lacklustre defeat at Fulham.

Benitez’s team selection on Saturday may have given some indication of how highly this fixture ranked on his list of priorities – he left eight of the 11 who started against Chelsea in midweek on Merseyside.

But try telling the players whose Anfield futures – let alone their involvement in the Athens final – remain uncertain that this game was of no importance.

Or, for that matter, Fulham, for whom Clint Dempsey’s 69th-minute goal all but secured their Premiership survival with a first win in six games.

When Benitez first glanced at the fixture list last July, successive games against the Cottagers, who finished the game with 10 men after Papa Bouba Dioup’s dismissal, and Charlton probably seemed like a perfect way to close the campaign.

With both sides’ Premiership survival on the line, however, so too are their opponent’s limbs.

Lawrie Sanchez, once of the Crazy Gang, has clearly stamped his mark on this Fulham team during his short tenure, his brutal players leaving theirs on Benitez’s men.

The Anfield chief was left fuming by Fulham’s physical approach, which has threatened to derail his meticulous planning for the May 23 meeting with Carlo Ancelloti’s AC Milan.

Four of his players – Pepe Reina, Mark Gonzalez, Alvaro Arbeloa and Momo Sissoko – picked up knocks, while Xabi Alonso was left bloodied by Michael Brown’s head-butt, which the referee Steve Bennett failed to spot.

At least a lean-looking Kewell, making his first outing since the World Cup, came through his 16-minute cameo unscathed.

With a place in Benitez’s European Cup final starting XI at stake, the winger, a 77th-minute substitute on Saturday, has just one game remaining to force his way into the Spaniard’s thoughts, Sunday’s home clash with Charlton.

Six memorable minutes were enough to change Liverpool’s destiny against Milan two years ago but the mercurial forward will require more than 16 to influence his own.

It was long enough, however, to prove that even when short of match practice he remains a better option than the disappointing Mark Gonzalez on Liverpool’s problem left side, almost making an immediate impact with a looping cross which Robbie Fowler should have finished.

After limping from successive end-of-season showpieces, Kewell deserves an opportunity to prove himself on the biggest stage – particularly given the manner of his exit from the Ataturk pitch in 2005.

The boos of his own supporters which greeted his departure hurt this proud player deeply and he was rightly furious when people questioned his right to join the open-top procession that followed the club’s greatest night in continental competition.

The number seven may have his critics but even they could not deny that Liverpool were a stronger side for his presence last season, his creativity on the left flank bringing balance to Benitez’s midfield.

Kewell’s FA Cup semi-final performance at Old Trafford, in particular, stands out – Chelsea’s defence were unable to cope with his marauding runs that day.

His absence this season left a void which neither Bolo Zenden nor Mark Gonzalez, who was again ineffective here, have filled with any real conviction.

It is something that Benitez himself recognises, the former Valencia manager only two aware of his side’s shortcomings which he will hope to address with a summer transfer budget inflated by the dollars of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Liverpool have plenty of grafters but desperately lack guile, something which Kewell’s inclusion would remedy.

Hopefully Benitez’s patient approach to the player’s recovery will now pay off.