It wasn't to be for Fulham on Wednesday night as a respectable draw against in-form Liverpool wasn't enough to book a ticket to Wembley for the Carabao Cup final.
The Cottagers needed to overturn a 1-0 deficit against the Reds and an early Luis Diaz goal made that task doubly hard as the Colombian pounced on a slow Timothy Castagne. Marco Silva's side slowly worked themselves back into the fixture and piled on the pressure after a second-half goal from the unlikely source of Issa Diop.
Defeat in the semi-final will hurt, but a draw against rampant Liverpool on any other night would be a praiseworthy result for Fulham. Here's how the players got on.
5. Timothy Castagne - 3
Overpowered by Luis Diaz for the goal and never looked in control of the Liverpool winger. The full-back may have nightmares about the Colombian. | Getty Images
6. Tom Cairney - 7
One of the few Fulham players who looked truly switched on from the beginning. Played some nice balls and was unlucky to receive his yellow card. | AFP via Getty Images Photo: Getty Images
7. Joao Palhinha - 6
Palhinha's long legs, as always, were often in the right place. Midfielder perhaps didn't dominate as he has done in the past. | Liverpool FC via Getty Images Photo: Getty Images
8. Andreas Pereira - 6
Looked well deflated after the Liverpool goal but did fire himself up eventually. Played some nice balls which went to waste. | Getty Images Photo: Getty Images