Fulham under 21s made it three four wins from four under new head coach Hayden Mullins after the young Whites recovered from conceding an early goal to thrash Southampton 5-1 at Motspur Park this afternoon.
Mullins had to make several changes due to international call-ups and they initially threatened Fulham’s flawless start to their PL2 campaign with sixteen year-old Jay Robinson giving the Saints a dream start. The talented teenager cut in from the right flank, beat his man and drilled a shot between Alfie McNally and his near post to stun the home crowd.
Ollie O’Neill, making his first appearance of the campaign after injury, hit back within two minutes. The Ireland under-21 international struck a speculative shot from range that deflected over visiting goalkeeper Adli Mohamed and cannon in off the underside of the crossbar. The game settled down after a frenetic start with Mohamed doing well to field a free-kick from Matt Dibley-Dias before Will Armitage drove over at the other end from a Southampton set-piece having been left unmarked.
O’Neill opted to square for a team-mate when sent into a superb shooting position, but Fulham weren’t left ruing the Ealing-born winger’s selflessness for too long. Mullins’ men went into the interval ahead after substitute Kristian Šekularac gave them the lead with his first touch after replacing George Okkas. The Swiss youth international volleyed an inviting cross from Devan Tanton to make an immediate impact.
Saints went close after the interval when a fierce drive from Kami Doyle was bravely blocked by McNally and the Fulham goal then had to parry over a powerful effort from Jayden Meghoma. Adrion Pajaziti, making his first under-21 start of the season, saw a shot blocked after excellent vision from Terrell Works and as Fulham turned the screw, Mohamed was called into action to deny Šekularac a second.
The visitors pushed forward in search of a leveller with their best chance arriving four minutes from time after a period of prolonged pressure. Princewill Ehibhatiomhan spun his marker superbly and thought he had scored after lifting an improvised finish over McNally, but the ball dropped agonisingly wide.
Fulham showed their opponents how to be ruthless in the final stages of an absorbing contest. O’Neill gave the Whites some breathing space with a superbly taken second on his return to action, slaloming his a packed penalty area and squeezing a near post shot home. Substitute Callum Osmand grabbed a stoppage-time brace, tucking home clinically to make it 4-1 before he seized on a defensive mistake to make the final scoreline even more emphatic.
FULHAM UNDER 21s (4-2-3-1): McNally; Tanton, Araujo, Esenga (Lanquedoc 90), de Fougerolles; Okkas (Šekularac 42), Dibley-Dias; Works (de Jesus 79), O’Neill, Pajaziti; McFarlane (Osmand 79). Subs (not used): Varney.
BOOKED: Essenga, Dibley-Dias, de Jesus.
GOALS: O’Neill (7, 88), Šekularac (42), Osmand (90, 90+1).
SOUTHAMPTON UNDER 21s (4-3-3): Mohamed, Abu, Armitage (Davis 66), Awe, Meghoma, Bragg, Dibling, Doyle, Ehibhatiomhan, Robinson, Edwards (Merry 72). Subs (not used): McNamara, Lett, Stepien-Iwumene.
BOOKED: Awe.
GOAL: Robinson (5).
REFEREE: Aaron Farmer.
