After the home draw with Middlesbrough some pessimistic supporters had feared another nerve-wracking season, whereas the one-sided victory over Huddersfield led optimists to believe that the club would monopolise the top spot from now to 7 May.
Tuesday night’s visit to Millwall seemed likely to challenge that assumption.
The East London side were not unprepared for their visitors, but their hopes of taking the game to Fulham fell apart in the third minute. Antonee Robinson, Ivan Cavaleiro and Fabio Carvalho worked the ball down the left and Aleksandar Mitrovic was perfectly placed to beat Bartosz Bialkowski. Five minutes later, Neeskens Kebano cutting in from the right presented Carvalho with Fulham’s second. The teenager then constructed an open goal for Cavaleiro, which perhaps through overconfidence he missed.
Fulham failed to increase their total though it was not for the want of trying, with Bialkowski thwarting them on several occasions. In consequence Millwall’s late rally made the closing minutes unnecessarily tense. Our former striker Matt Smith came close then gave Benik Afobe an 87th minute headed goal. Fortunately, this proved just a consolation.
‘We’ve got Carvalho’ sang the fans, silently praying that Fulham will manage to keep him.
Silva says the goals will come
After his performances against Middlesbrough, Tyrese Francois must have felt disappointed not to be in the starting line-up at Huddersfield. But as the match developed no one would have quibbled with Marco Silva’s team selection.
Both sides came out eager for goals. In the first five minutes, Josh Onomah tested keeper Ryan Schofield from outside the area, Fulham’s Paulo Gazzaniga then showed his goal-keeping prowess and Town’s Danny Ward had a goal disallowed for offside.
In last week’s home match Gazzaniga was nearly caught out by a fierce back pass. Now it was Ryan Schofield’s turn.
In a misguided effort to prevent a corner he concocted a hurried clearance in the direction of Mitrovic. The incredulous striker actually slipped in his eagerness to score but the ball bounced off him and rolled across the line. This fluke (which understandably went viral) turned out to be Mitro’s only goal.
Almost immediately, Tosin gave him another opportunity, which Schofield thwarted, and on the half hour it was the Serb’s turn to have a goal ruled out for offside. Still the bizarre opener had clearly raised his morale.
The last few minutes before half-time saw three goals. From a corner Bobby DeCordova-Reid nodded the ball downwards allowing Josh Onomah to embarrass Schofield with a brave diving header. At the other end Natty Pearson reduced the deficit only for Onomah and Bobby DeCordova-Reid to fashion a goal for the dazzling Carvalho. Fulham led 3-1 at half-time.
After the interval Huddersfield displayed a rugged determination to frustrate the visitors. Both Harry Wilson, who hit the crossbar, and Carvalho endured some rough treatment and Wilson’s alleged retaliation to a crude foul earned him a red card in the 72nd minute, the only incident to mar the team’s performance.
This could have left Fulham struggling to preserve three points. Instead Silva’s introduction of Cavaleiro looked like a stroke of genius. Ivan, who scored just three goals in 36 Premier matches last season, had the ball in the net just thirty seconds after his arrival – again Bobby DeCordova-Reid was the provider. The Portuguese then doubled his tally with his other foot, Mitrovic having sent him clear.
Marco Silva refused to share the general amazement at the 5-1 scoring feast: “The goals for our strikers and wingers will come naturally with our style of play.”
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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