Fabio Carvalho grabbed a hat-trick as Fulham’s under 23s put six past Reading in their first pre-season friendly this morning.
The England youth international was in sparkling form – picking up from where he left off after being voted Fulham’s scholar of the year and signing a professional contract in May. Ben Davis and Jean-Pierre Tiehi added further goals as the visitors eased to a comfortable victory. The Fulham side featured former Chelsea defender Jordan Aina.
Reading made a bright start with Taye Ashby-Hammond called into action on a couple of occasions before Fulham took the lead when a smart free-kick saw Davis drive home from just outside the box. A tremendous through ball from Tiehi then released Carvalho, who rounded the goalkeeper with consummate ease and rolled in a second.
Carvalho then produced a beautiful curler from distance after being fed by summer signing Ziyad Larkeche to make it three and completed his hat-trick with another fine finish from a move featuring Ollie O’Neil and Terry Ablade. He netted a fourth before Tiehi then grabbed a goal for himself by robbing a Reading defender of possession, racing in on goal and finishing with real confidence.
FULHAM UNDER 23s: T. Ashby-Hammond; Duru, Larkeche, Aina, Odutayo; De Havilland, Harris, Davis; Carvalho, Ablade, Tiehi. Subs: Las, O’Neill, Hilton.
Good to see a superb start to the season from the youngsters. We. Will sorely need serious back up to the first team in the premier league. Vital to create pressure for places in the team.