Kit Symons described Fulham’s 2-0 victory at Huddersfield – a match which included a red-card controversy, a goal scored from a corner and two missed penalties – as “probably the most bizarre game I have ever been involved in”.
Nahki Wells missed two penalties and he and Jacob Butterfield hit the post as Huddersfield did everything but score. Alex Kacaniklic gave Fulham the lead straight from a corner after just 66 seconds but Huddersfield were on top from then on.
Fulham, who also hit the woodwork through Cauley Woodrow, only made the points safe in the sixth minute of stoppage time when sub Seko Fofana broke clear and slotted home the rebound after his first effort came back off the post.
There was chaos around the hour mark when Fulham skipper Shaun Hutchinson handled on the line to keep out Ishmael Miller’s shot – only for referee Richard Clark to brandish the red card at Woodrow.
Fulham players protested and Clark consulted his assistant and changed his mind, sending off Hutchinson instead.
After a three-minute wait Wells stepped up only for Marcus Bettinelli to pull off a great save. In the 72nd minute Ashley Richards brought down Sean Scannell and Wells, back after five matches out with a shoulder injury, volunteered again only to smash his spot-kick against the upright.
Symons said: “It was probably the most bizarre game I have ever been involved in. Against Leeds on Wednesday we played 10 times better, had 28 shots, but were on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline.
“In this one we scored at the beginning and at the end and in between Huddersfield were by far the better side.
“Marcus made some great saves and we had some good defending and some poor defending. We had a man sent off – the wrong one to start with – and the six minutes at the end felt like an eternity.
“But the important thing is we got there by hook or by crook and showed real character. When you do that you sometimes get all the luck, and we’ve not had much of that lately.”
