Emile Smith Rowe scored within seven minutes of making his first appearance in a Fulham shirt as the Whites went down to their first defeat of pre-season, losing 2-1 to Sevilla on the Algarve tonight.
The former Arsenal winger reduced Fulham’s arrears early in the second half with a superb diving header from Antonee Robinson’s left-wing cross after a fabulous through ball from fellow debutant Jorge Cuenca but Marco Silva’s side couldn’t recover from allowing Sevilla striker Issac Romero to score a first half brace.
Silva made ten changes from the team that impressively beat Benfica in the first match of their Portuguese tour on Friday night, but the only survivor from that starting eleven Issa Diop made a dreadful error to gift Romero a sight of goal with barely a minute played. The forward, who has enjoyed a rapid rise from Spain’s fourth tier since last December, smartly side-footed an assured finish past Steven Benda to give the La Liga side the lead.
Fulham might easily have been level within four minutes but Andreas Pereira headed Timothy Castagne’s terrific cross over the bar. The Londoners enjoyed a strong spell in possession but shot themselves in the foot again on the stroke of half time as Romero rifled in under little pressure from just outside the area to put Sevilla in complete control of the contest.
The complexion of the friendly changed immediately after the interval as Smith Rowe, who signed for Fulham in a club-record deal last week, swiftly set about making an immediate impression. The England international fashioned an opportunity for Raul Jimenez straight away only for the Mexican veteran to fire over the bar after Smith Rowe had intercepted a stray Sevilla pass.
Smith Rowe left his mark on the contest from Fulham’s next significant attack, linking up impressively with Robinson down the left side, and finishing a move magnificently started by the eye-catching Cuenca with a deft diving header inside the six-yard box. Robinson then came agonisingly close to drawing Fulham level with a curling effort off his right foot that flew fractionally wide.
Bernd Leno made an important save to deny Chidera Ejuke but it was Fulham who made all of the running in the closing stages. Robinson did brilliantly to set up Smith Rowe again but the wide man was denied a second by a brilliant reaction save from Orjan Nyland. Rodrigo Muniz spun dangerously in the area but shot over before Cuenca saw a header saved after Adama Traore had forced a corner.
Fulham kept pushing until the end of the contest but their best chance of a frantic finale saw Muniz nod into the arms of Nyland from Alex Iwobi’s inviting cross. The Whites will soon head to Hoffenheim for their final friendly before the kick off next weekend.
SEVILLA: Nyland; Angel, Pedrosa, Nianzou, Gudelj, Sow, Bueno, Saul, Ocampos, Ejuke, Romero. Subs: Dmitrovic, Lukebakio, Peque, Idumbo, Dario, Collado, Alberto, Ramon, Rivera, Lopez.
GOALS: Romero (1, 45).
FULHAM: Benda (Leno 45): Castagne (Tete 65), Diop (Bassey 65), Cuenca, Sessegnon (Robinson 45); Reed (Lukic 65), Pajaziti (Smith Rowe 45), Pereira (Cairney 65), Wilson (Traore 65), Godo (Iwobi 65), Jimenez (Muniz 65). Subs (not used): Borto, Araujo, Esenga, King, Stansfield.
GOAL: Smith Rowe (53).
