Fulham finished their pre-season programme with an encouraging 2-0 win over TSG Hoffenheim in Germany this afternoon.
Emile Smith Rowe scored his second goal since signing from Arsenal for a club record fee last week and Adama Traore continued his eye-catching build-up to the new season with the crucial second goal on the counter attack. The outstanding Alex Iwobi notched up two more assists and the link up play between Smith Rowe, Iwobi and the overlapping Antonee Robinson along the left wing looked particular promising ahead of Friday’s league opener at Old Trafford.
This game began in the sedate style of a warm-up fixture with both sides taking it in turns to probe with the ball, but there was little of the pressure that will come when the serious business gets underway. Bernd Leno made the afternoon’s first save, gripping tightly to a shot from Andrej Kramaric after the Croatian had cut inside, but Fulham had played the sharper stuff until that point.
The visitors hit the front just after the half hour with a move of genuine quality. Iwobi floated a delightful ball into the path of Smith Rowe, having spotted the forward run of his former Arsenal team-mate, and the England international burst into the box and steered a snapshot between the legs of Patrick Baumann at his near post. The Hoffenheim goalkeeper will have been disappointed to have been surprised, but Smith Rowe’s enterprise and eye for goal more than merited that bit of luck – this was another excellent performance from the new arrival.
The Whites showed plenty of attacking intent in the first half, winning four corners in the first twenty minutes, and Traore’s devastating pace hinted at a route to goal but the were plagued by poor decision making in the final third. Leno was largely a spectator back in his homeland but he did need to repel an ambitious effort from Anton Stach before the interval.
Fulham were on the front foot after the break again with Smith Rowe teeing up Iwobi for a shot that Baumann failed to hold, although an off-colour Rodrigo Muniz failed to convert the rebound after spinning onto the loose ball in the box. Leno denied Pavel Kaderabek when the wing back found oceans of space in the Fulham box and the contest opened up after the hour with Hoffenheim committing more men forward in search of an equaliser.
Traore, looking the sharpest he has been since he arrived at Craven Cottage from Wolverhampton Wanderers last season, latched onto a searching pass from Andreas Pereira, burst past two defenders and into the penalty area before seeing a shot smothered by the feet of Baumann. Leno matched his opposite number’s reflexes from Hoffenheim’s next attack when a retreating Robinson looked to have turned a cross into his own net at point blank range – with the Fulham number one doing brilliantly to preserve the Cottagers’ lead.
Fulham scored the vital second from a Hoffenheim corner that came to nothing. Muniz did magnificently to hold the ball up and bring Iwobi into the play. The Nigerian lifted a lovely ball into the path of the onrushing Traore, who bustled beyond a desperate defender and rolled his finish beyond Baumann. Sasa Lukic, who had another steady game at the heart of the Fulham engine room, almost made it three with a blistering drive a few moments later but Baumann beat away the Serbian’s shot.
Leno excelled himself again in the closing stages – keeping his clean sheet intact by superbly stopping Marius Bülter’s piledriver with his legs – before Fulham substitute Jorge Cuenca twice came close to rounding off the perfect afternoon with a first goal for his new club. The Spaniard had a header blocked from a corner and saw his follow-up effort deflected wide. Hoffenheim might have looked ring rusty a fortnight ahead of the new Bundesliga season, but this was exactly the sort of professional display Marco Silva would have demanded from his charges six days before the start of Fulham’s Premier League campaign.
TSG HOFFENHEIM (3-4-1-2): Baumann; Akpoguma, Grillitsch (Strobl 68), Stach; Kade?ábek, Prömel, Bischof (Micheler 45), Prass (Kalambayi 68); Kramari? (Damar 81); Bülter, Moerstedt.
FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete (Castagne 81), A. Robinson (Esenga 89), Diop (Cuenca 81), Bassey; Lukic, Pereira (King 89); Traore (Godo 89), Iwobi, Smith Rowe (Cairney 81); Muniz (Jimenez 81). Subs (not used): Benda, Borto, de Fougerolles, Araujo, Pajaziti, Reed, Wilson, Stansfield.
BOOKED: Pereira.
GOALS: Smith Rowe (33), Traore (64).
ATTENDANCE: 9,200.
not sure i like Perrara in the 8 and smith rowe in the 10 , we looked a little light in the centre of the park
can see why they want mctominay now