U18s put five past Chelsea

Fulham’s U18s turned in a terrific performance in this morning’s SW6 derby as they thrashed Chelsea 5-0 at Motspur Park.

Steve Wigley’s side made in two derby wins out of two this season – with the two games being Chelsea’s only reverses of the campaign to date – with an adventurous display full of flowing football. Swedish striker Muamer Tankovic scored twice and George Williams, Moussa Dembele and Patrick Roberts grabbed the other goals in a comfortable Fulham win.

After a fairly even first half an hour, Fulham went ahead thanks to some predatory finishing from Tankovic. The former IFK Norkkoping forward reacted quickest after Patrick Roberts’ powerful drive came back off the crossbar and forced the ball into an unguarded net. The Swedish youth international grabbed a second just moments later. The lively Dembele had already hit a post before a loose clearance from Chelsea goalkeeper Ben Killip allowed Tankovic a clear sight of goal. The striker swiftly advanced on goal and clinically finished from ten yards out to double Fulham’s lead.

The second half saw Fulham continue to press forward and Tankovic saw a wicked curler fly over the crossbar as he sought to complete his hat-trick. Chelsea committed numbers forward in search of a lifeline, but ended up being heavily punished at the other end. England youth international Roberts displayed some fine individual skill to leave two Chelsea defenders trailing in his week as he sauntered down the right before an inch-perfect cross gave Williams to the simplest of finishes to make it 3-0 from close range.

The lively Dembele, a consistent threat throughout, sent a free header wastefully over at the far post but wasn’t to be denied a deserved goal, arriving late to finish off another excellent move from close range. With time ticking away, Roberts capped an excellent individual performance with Fulham’s fifth goal – clinically finishing an inviting cross from promising American midfielder Emmerson Hyndman.

FULHAM U18s: Oberschmidt, Donnelly, Richards, Arthurworrey, O’Reilly, Sambou, Roberts, Hyndman, Dembele, Tankovic, Williams.