Fulham 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Fulham win 5-3 on penalties)
Tuesday night’s magnificent penalty shoot-out victory over Tottenham Hotspur capped off a turbulent August for the Whites.
The club has rarely shone in the Carabao Cup (or its earlier versions), so the events of Tuesday evening were all the more noteworthy. Marek Rodak got his deserved opportunity to play in goal and enjoyed a good evening. Rodrigo Muniz tried hard as always, and his confidence grew as the match proceeded.
Otherwise, Marco Silva used first teamers. For the visitors Manor Solomon was making a quick return to the Cottage but thankfully he did no harm. The first half lacked quality and saw an excess of fouls but in the 19th minute Tom Cairney displayed his best form teasing the defence before delivering a centre that Micky van de Ven diverted past his own keeper.
Richarlison was a constant menace but his equaliser early in the second half had more than a touch of the bizarre. Kenny Tete was off the pitch changing his boots when the Brazilian headed home Ivan Perisic’s centre.
Harry Wilson, coming on soon after, came close to restoring Fulham’s lead but neither side could prevent the match from ending with penalties. Fulham’s first three takers (Andreas Pereira, Raul Jimenez and Wilson) had all come on as substitutes and all scored.
Rodak diving to his left brilliantly thwarted Davinson Sanchez. Joao Palhinha and the correctly shod Tete ensured victory and progress to the next round.
Bees sting
The abject defeat by Brentford two weeks ago had left Fulham supporters more apprehensive than usual about the subsequent visit to the Emirates. This apprehension was to be wondrously dispelled.
The Gunners began the match with a passing routine (I lost count after 14) that had drawn Aaron Ramsdale out of his area. But the keeper had no chance of reaching Bukayo Saka’s half-hit effort and Pereira nipped into the gap to curl the ball past a scrambling Ramsdale. Fulham were ahead after 57 seconds.
Bernd Leno will have expected a furious reaction from his former teammates, and he coped with it easily. In front of him Calvin Bassey proved an effective replacement for the suspended Tim Ream.
The other fresh face – Jimenez – had mixed fortunes. He picked up an early caution for a rash challenge on Saka but he nearly doubled Fulham’s lead with an impressive bicycle kick. Referee Ray Tierney warned Pereira about timewasting but fortunately did not issue a card. Bassey was not so lucky. He was harshly carded for the same misdemeanour.
The match had been in progress for an hour before the Arsenal came close to scoring, Martin Odergaard shooting wide, but the tide was turning in favour of the home team. Pereira was injured and had to be replaced by Tom Cairney, then Kenny Tete conceded an unnecessary penalty (Issa Diop had him covered). Saka, perturbed neither by the pouring rain nor by the VAR delay, sent the ball past Leno.
Almost immediately the substitute Fabio Viera created a goal for Eddie Nketiah. Bassey had been injured in a tussle with Nketiah and he was lying in the penalty area when the striker found the net. Fulham’s admirable resistance was no longer enough. It was time to attack.
In the 85th minute the visitors endured another set-back. Bassey misguidedly earned a second yellow for obstruction in the Arsenal half of the pitch. Yet the ten men did not relent. After substitute Adama Traore won a corner Harrison Reed delivered the ball to the feet of the unmarked Palhinha, who stroked it past Ramsdale.
With Mr Tierney allowing the added time to drift on and on Leno made one last brilliant save to secure the point. The Match of the Day squad rightly enthused about Palhinha but had scant praise for Fulham. If there was an element of good fortune about our two goals the same could be said of the Gunners.
Likewise, Fulham’s errors were as costly as Arsenal’s. Tete had no need to give away a penalty and Bassey should have realised that he could not afford a second yellow. Their irate (and soaked) manager was also cautioned after the second Arsenal goal – for the third match in a row. He is unrepentant but will have to modify his attitude.
Of course, if Jimenez had scored with his bicycle kick we might have won and the headline would have read ‘Who Needs Mitro?’.
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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