For the best part of 42 minutes, this was an intriguing contest. Just as at Craven Cottage earlier in the season, when Russell Martin’s Swansea reign was in its infancy, the Welsh outfit saw most of the ball and their patient, probing, possession-based style was causing the league leaders problems. Fulham still carved out a couple of good openings – and Aleksandar Mitrovic might have felt he should have put them ahead with a couple of headers – but the game was finely balanced. Then, a wild lunge from Ryan Manning on Harry Wilson utterly altered its complexion. Swansea were incensed the ex-QPR midfielder was shown a straight red by Australian referee Jarred Gillett, but it was a late and dangerous tackle from which the hosts never recovered.
It took just sixteen seconds after the interval for Fulham to go in front. To some degree, Swansea were the architects of their own downfall here as well. Andy Fisher tried a cute chipped out from the back that played Matt Grimes into trouble and Harrison Reed swooped, slipping the ball across for Harry Wilson, whose low cross was turned home clinically by Aleksandar Mitrovic for the Serbian’s 35th goal of the season. Immediately, the floodgates appeared to have opened. Mitrovic might have doubled the advantage from a Fabio Carvalho cutback but was denied by Fisher’s feet. Marco Silva’s side didn’t have to wait long for more.
A second arrived courtesy of the unfortunate Ben Cabango, who got the final touch into his own net, but it owed everything to Reed’s endeavour. The ginger-haired midfielder found space out wide, surged down the right flank and supplied an inviting low cross that Cabango was desperate to clear, succeeding only in compounding Swansea’s woes. The lively Neeskens Kebano threatened to make it three, with some silky footwork to find half a yard in the area after latching onto a Carvalho pass, only for Fisher to save at the near post.
The result wasn’t in doubt after that – even if Jamie Patterson whistled a drive fractionally wide from a long way out. Silva sent on Bobby Decordova-Reid and Ivan Cavaleiro. The latter almost announced his arrival with an angled effort from the edge of the box that flashed a couple of yards wide of the near post, before Decordova-Reid – booed because of his Cardiff connections – went one better. The substitute headed home from a couple of yards out after Wilson had nodded Mitrovic’s cross back across goal.
Even the soft concession of a consolation to Joel Piroe, who stole ahead of Tosin Adarabioyo at a corner to glance in his sixteenth of the season, didn’t dampen Fulham’s sense of adventure. Neco Williams, so close to breaking his club goalscoring duck with that audacious effort from the halfway line on Saturday, fired in his first Fulham goal after intercepting a poor pass out of the box and rampaging along the right. He was alert enough to follow up after Decordova-Reid’s initial shot had been blocked – and it got better for the Welsh full back. Williams was able to add another with a sensational strike from outside the box into the corner having capitalised on more cheap surrendering of possession from the hosts.
The ease with which Fulham romped to victory contrasted with a first half where Swansea looked like giving Silva’s side a serious run for the money. In the absence of Cyrus Christie against his parent club, Martin had switched to a back four but they pressed the visitors high up the field and were adept at bypassing Fulham’s defensive structure in the early stages, with Patterson getting into a couple of promising positions without reward. The winger’s dangerous free-kick bounced off a couple of Fulham players and dribbled to safety before Marek Rodak tipped over a rising drive from the in-form Michael Obafemi.
Fulham still fashioned openings of their own. Mitrovic headed a yard over after being found by a floated Williams delivery and, just before the break, the Serbian nodded millimetres wide of the far post from a lovely looping cross by Reed. Manning’s moment of madness gave Fulham their opportunity to escape from Swansea’s suffocating intensity and Silva’s side ruthlessly exploited their numerical advantage after the interval. The Whites are now a preposterous fourteen points clear at the top of the Championship after Bournemouth could only draw with bottom of the table Peterborough. Playing like this a return to the top flight could be only a few games away.
SWANSEA CITY (4-4-1-1): Fisher; Smith, Cabango, Naughton, Manning; Downes (Fulton 45), Grimes, Ntcham (Bennett 45), Paterson; Piroe; Obafemi (Joseph 60). Subs (not used): Hamer, Burns, Latibeaudiere, Congreve.
SENT OFF: Manning (42).
GOAL: Piroe (75).
FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Rodak; N. Williams, A. Robinson, Adarabioyo, Ream; Reed, Seri (Cairney 76); Wilson, Kebano (Decordova-Reid 68), Carvalho (Cavaleiro 68); Mitrovic. Subs (not used): Gazzaniga, Tete, Hector, Chalobah.
GOALS: Mitrovic (46), Cabango (o.g. 52), Decordova-Reid (73), N. Williams (77, 85).
REFEREE: Jarred Gillett (Australia).
ATTENDANCE: 17,023
Not sure about the first 42 minutes being an intriguing contest. It was most definitely a boring contest. Swansea had all the possession but zero attacking quality and Fulham seemed half asleep in what was an awful first half where we were guilty of giving the ball away on so many occasions and not registering a single effort on goal. Marco Silva’s anger and frustration was evident on the touchline.
As at Ewood Park, the sending off -completely deserved – was the turning point and we completely dominated the second period.
Swansea seemed to give up and Russell Martin signalled his intentions by withdrawing Obafemi-who had produced their only worthwhile effort in the first half-in favour of a defender; no doubt accepting defeat and hoping to keep the scoreline respectable.
That wasn’t to be as, aided by some poor defensive play, we proceeded to take them apart.
Our second half performance was as good as our first half performance was awful.
Would we have been so successful if Swansea had remained at full strength?
I doubt it as they had pressed and hustled us convincingly before halftime. But I am sure that Marco Silva sent them out for the second half with firm instructions to up their game so I am confident that the breakthrough would have been achieved eventually.
We now face four more games on the road and we need to be “up” for it from the first whistle.
One thing is for sure, if Fabio Carvalho is to sign for Liverpool in the summer, we need to make sure that Neco Williams is part of any negotiation. The kid is sensational!
I get what Dan means, here, to be honest. It was very interesting to see us up against a passing side who were able to beat the press pretty consistently. It became a much less even contest after the sending off – but I thought Swansea shaded the first half and were definitely causing us problems.
The big difference between this team and the last time we were in this division is that we are absolutely ruthless in the opposition box at present. How about the fact that we won 5-1 tonight and Mitrovic, in such fine fettle, only scored once? Says so much about the fact that the danger is spread throughout our side.