Olly reviews another successful Fulham away day …

Marek Rodak: Cardiff’s efforts on target were weak for the most part but Rodak was assured and did really well to close down Collins after he got through one on one, he made himself big and stayed on his feet to ensure he could deflect away Collins’ attempted chip, a big save at 0-0. 7

Neco Williams: Another solid display from Neco but my concerns which I’ve voiced in previous games are still there. Like many full backs in the game these days he looks brilliant going forward but slightly suspect at the back. It’s something I’ve noticed almost every game so far, he is taken on too easily and I have no doubt it’s something he’ll be working on. Ultimately I think that’s what led Silva to replace him with Tete towards the end. 6

Tosin Adarabioyo and Tim Ream: Little between these two here, I thought they both did really well with the ball at their feat after a few suspect moments in recent matches and they stood firm against a physical Cardiff side who threatened to find a leveller in the closing stages of the game. Both put in some good challenges and won their 50/50’s. Tosin did have a worrying moment as the ball bounced straight over his head to provide Collins with his one on one opportunity but he also showed off his passing range with a delightful ball over the top to Wilson who couldn’t quite sort his feet out. 7

Joe Bryan: Many people including myself have been wanting to see a bit more of Bryan this season. After his play off heroics against Brentford it’s a shame that he’s faded away slightly but he had a chance here to prove his worth. I felt he played it safe at times when there could have been opportunities to push forward instead but this is probably why he didn’t find himself out of position on too many occasions, something that we see regularly with Robinson. I personally believe Robinson is our best option but this is mainly down to his pace, aside from that I don’t think there’s a lot in it. 6 

Nathaniel Chalobah: I was very surprised to see Chalobah return to the starting line up after Seri’s dominant display on Wednesday night and whilst we’ll never know if we still would’ve won with Seri instead of Chalobah, I do feel we lacked a creativity throughout the entire game which Seri would have provided. Especially in Cairney’s absence. His physicality is most likely why he got the nod and it did help us in the middle of the park but he struggled to kickstart any decent attacking opportunities and found himself losing possession on a number of occasions. 5

Harrison Reed: The type of player you don’t always notice but you’d notice if he wasn’t there. He’s had a bit more freedom again in the last couple of games with Cairney out injured and Seri or Chalobah playing the deep role but the way Cardiff played meant he couldn’t really find his way into advanced areas, either because they had so many men behind the ball in the first half or because they pegged us back for large parts of the second. He was there to link up play and get his challenges in throughout. 7

Fabio Carvalho: Always looking to make things happen and this was no different even if it didn’t quite come off for him. Every time he picks up the ball he looks to turn and progress with it which is so refreshing. He’s not afraid to get stuck in either which was especially important against a feisty Cardiff outfit. 7

Harry Wilson: Provider once again, after a barren spell Wilson grabbed his 12th assist of the campaign. He still wasn’t in the form we saw him in earlier in the season but he played fairly well and there were large parts of both halves where all our attacking play was coming through him linking with Williams, Mitrovic and Carvalho down the right. It was a great cross towards the back post which Mitrovic gladly nodded past Smithies in the Cardiff net. 7

Aleksandar Mitrovic: Another game, another goal. That’s 34 for Mitrovic now as he works his way ever closer to Wittingham’s tally of 42. It seemed inevitable that he would score yesterday, he now has six goals in seven games against the bluebirds. He was handled well by the Cardiff backline and wasn’t given a decent chance on goal aside from this one. Once again he played deeper and even wide at times to link up the play and he’ll to create promising moments for others. 7

Bobby Decordova-Reid: Decordova-Reid struggled yesterday and looked tired from quite early on. He’s played a lot of football in the past few weeks and after a lack of playing time prior to the Stoke game it seems as though his recent run could be catching up with him. A week with no midweek game will hopefully allow some much needed recovery time for the entire squad. 5

Substitutes:

Josh Onomah: Sadly there was no work of art from the paintbrush of Josh Onomah on this occasion, he wasn’t given much time to make that happen and he struggled to make an impact yesterday when he came on. 5

Kenny Tete: His first appearance since the signing of Williams, partly due to injury but also due to Williams’ good performances. It was good to have him back and he shored up the right back position where Williams had been successfully taken on progressively more throughout the game. 6

Ivan Cavaleiro: He was Silva’s final sub yesterday which didn’t given him too much time to contribute, I’d have liked to see him earlier after an impressive performance off the bench on Wednesday and with Decordova-Reid struggling to make an impact I felt Cavaleiro could have done just that. 5