Oct 31, 2009 - 2:26 PM
0 shoutsBy JAMES PIERCY STATS European Football Writer=
LONDON (SE) - Rafael Benitez defended his decision to substitute Fernando Torres as nine-man Liverpool were brought crashing down to earth by a 3-1 defeat at Fulham on Saturday.
Defenders Jamie Carragher and Phillip Degen were both sent off as the Reds slumped to their fifth Premier League defeat of the season only a week after beating champions Manchester United.
Benitez's choice to take off goalscorer Torres with the scores level at 1-1 17 minutes into the second half angered the travelling supporters.
The Spaniard explained: "We knew it was difficult to play Fernando from the beginning or maybe keep him on the bench but we took the risk.
"Fernando was tired. He played 80 minutes against Manchester United so I felt he needed a rest. We need to protect him.
"We needed to change things because we were the chasing game so I brought Ryan Babel on to give us a different option.
"His substitution was not why we lost the game.
"The sendings off were harsh. The first one could have been a yellow card and in the second one I felt Jamie won the ball.
"It is disappointing because of how well we played last week but we knew this would be a very difficult game.
"We have shown if we work hard against teams like Manchester United and Arsenal we are a good team but did not play well today."
Liverpool were again without captain Steven Gerrard and England defender Glen Johnson because of injuries and got off to the worst possible start as Bobby Zamora gave Fulham a 24th minute lead.
Zamora got in between Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Emiliano Ensua to turn Damien Duff's left wing cross beyond a helpless Pepe Reina.
Torres equalised three minutes before half time, reacting quickest when Andry Voronin's header rebounded off Aaron Hughes to lash home an unstoppable volley.
Zamora felt he should have had a penalty when he appeared to be tripped by Carragher at the start of the second half but Fulham did not have to wait long to find themselves back in front.
Dirk Kuyt clumsily lost possession to Paul Konchesky 17 minutes from time and the former England full back's cross was headed down by Zoltan Gera for Erik Nevland to apply the finishing touch.
Liverpool were swiftly reduced to nine man as Degen was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Clint Dempsey before Carragher was dismissed moments later for hauling back Zamora when he was through on goal.
Fulham made the most of their numerical advantage in the 87th minute when Nevland fed an unmarked Dempsey and the USA international side-footed past Reina.
Cottagers boss Roy Hodgson said: "We had had some good performances up to now and sometimes the thrill of the performance has been spoilt by the result.
"Today we got our noses in front and were able to keep our noses in front and every time you take a scalp the size of Liverpool's you have to be happy."
