Fulham 2-1 Norwich City
Fulham made history 63 years ago when they visited Bristol Rovers for the inaugural match of the League Cup – and promptly became the first team to tumble out of the competition.
Apathy and even hostility had greeted the idea of a League Cup, with several top clubs refusing to participate. While I doubt whether Fulham’s manager Beddy Jezzard was unduly bothered by the result, the competition has nevertheless survived with a frequent change of name (1981’sThe Milk Cup being perhaps the quaintest). But whatever its appellation, it has never really been valued at Fulham, hence results like last season’s 2-0 defeat by Crawley Town.
Perhaps that humiliation drove Marco Silva this year to field a strong team against Spurs in round two. For Wednesday evening’s visit by Norwich City, he brought Calvin Bassey, Fode Ballo-Toure and Alex Iwobi into the starting line-up and from kick-off it was clear that the manager wanted a decisive victory.
Many fans were also pleased to see Carlos Vinicius chosen as spearhead even though they appreciated Silva’s loyalty to Raul Jimenez for first choice.
Promising start
After 12 minutes of promising attacks but poor accuracy, Fulham took the lead. Willian’s classy freekick found Iwobi, who lobbed the ball into the goal area. It was Vinicius who finally got it over the line.
Silva had spoken rather dismissively of Championship standards before the match. But Tony Springett should have grabbed his chance of equalising – yet failed to hit the target. While Vinicius was equally wasteful at the other end.
Norwich looked more dangerous in the second half – especially the talented Sam McCullum. But Iwobi finally obliged with a low shot into the left-hand corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area. Though Norwich deservedly got on the scoresheet through the tricky Borja Sinz, the visitors could not stop Fulham from moving into the last 16.
Although Silva rightly criticised his players’ inaccuracy he must have been delighted by the resurgence of Willian and Harry Wilson. The next round will take Fulham to Ipswich.
Away game patter
I tend to rely on Jim and Jamie’s live commentary for away games. But last Saturday’s broadcast from Crystal Palace had technical issues. By the time their familiar voices were emanating from my computer it seemed that the Whites were in charge. Sam Johnstone the Palace keeper had already saved shots from Andreas Pereira and Willian.
Conversely, Joao Palhinha and Tim Ream had received yellow cards. Referee Paul Tierney was obviously less tolerant than Michael Salisbury, the previous week’s official. It was a bad day for Palhinha because he then needed treatment after a clash of heads with Jordan Ayew (who was booked). Fortunately, the Fulham player was able to continue.
As the match neared the interval, Timothy Castagne and Raul Jimenez also tested the keeper. A slight dampener came when the commentators mentioned Paul Parker’s pre-match forecast of a goalless draw. Last season that would have seemed most unlikely but both clubs have lost exciting players and not yet replaced them. By half-time, it was clear that Paul Parker had called it correctly.
Palace looked more dangerous in the second half as both sides continued to clock up the fouls. For Fulham, Harrison Reed and Jimenez both had chances but failed to put the visitors ahead.
Surprisingly, Marco Silva did not make substitutions on the hour. The late arrival of Alex Iwobi, Carlos Vinicius and Harry Wilson created some impetus but not enough to save the game from stale mediocrity.
Next Monday’s local derby should be different.
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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