An afternoon in the glorious Craven Cottage sunshine had all the ingredients of Fulham’s fabulously unorthodox Premier League campaign. There was plenty of disastrous defending, another comically missed penalty and a stirring fightback that saw Scott Parker’s side claw their way back towards salvation but fall frustratingly short. Everton, who looked ominously in control at half-time, were left hanging on to the narrowest of leads but escaped the capital having arrested their own alarming run of reverses.
Parker’s decision to omit Aleksandar Mitrovic and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa from his starting line-up raised a few eyebrows. Without the Serbian up front, Fulham lack a natural goalscorer whilst Anguissa’s tenacity in midfield was sorely missed in a first half that saw Carlo Ancelotti’s men stroll into a comfortable advantage. The hosts were the architects of their own downfall inside the first minute when Toison Adarabioyo attempted an ill-advised switch of play from the edge of his own box. Ola Aina’s header was seized upon by Lucas Digne and Richarlison, restored to the starting line-up after suspension, sped to the by-line before his cut back allowed Dominic Calvert-Lewin the simplest of finishes after a couple of deflections.
Everton’s enterprise – and a switch to a back three – simply overwhelmed Fulham, who were slow to settle and could have gone further behind as Richarlison and Alex Iwobi, who enjoyed an excellent outing as an adventurous right wing-back, roamed with intent. When the Whites did recover some of their poise they exploited space chiefly down their left flank with ex-Everton academy graduate Antonee Robinson to the fore. The American international made a chance that Bobby Decordova-Reid should have done better than to snatch at, but the Jamaican forward took his next opportunity far more impressively, shooting clinically past Jordan Pickford after a lovely one-two with Tom Cairney saw him glide past Yerry Mina.
The visitors still looked ropey at the back, but there were irrepressible going forward. Calvert-Lewin was denied a second by an offside flag but that merely postponed the inevitable. Iwobi injected pace and purpose into the Everton attack, surging past two challengers down the right, and making the space for his opposite wing-back Digne to dart dangerously down the left again. The French defender produced a fabulous first-time cross and Calvert-Lewin gobbled up his tenth league goal of the campaign.
Alphone Areola did his best to keep Fulham in the contest – making a couple of excellent saves from Calvert-Lewin and then pulling off a magnificent stop to keep out Richarlison after the Brazilian had robbed Maria Lemina in midfield and strode into the penalty area – but the game looked beyond the home side after Rodriguez’s gorgeous pass freed Digne down the left again. Another excellent delivery found Abdoulaye Doucoure, criminally unmarked in the middle of the penalty area, who restored Everton’s two-goal cushion with a clinical header.
Parker kept faith with his starting eleven after the break but there was little sign of a revival. Cairney looked the most likely to unlock the Everton defence, having a shot blocked by Godfrey, so it was something of surprise to see him sacrificed as a part of a double change that introduced Mitrovic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The switch had an almost immediate effect when the Chelsea loanee was clumsily felled in the box by Godfrey, only for Cavaleiro to spoon the spot-kick over the bar – slipping as he stepped up to strike it.
That setback would have finished off plenty of struggling sides but Parker’s charges weren’t about it to give it up just yet. A minute later Ademola Lookman burst into the box and fed Loftus-Cheek, whose shot looped into the net off Mina to spark hopes of a Fulham revival. Ancelotti sent on Tom Davies and Gylfi Sigurdsson to try and secure Everton’s slender lead and, even though they retreated deep into their own half for much of the remaining twenty minutes, Fulham failed to fashion a clear-cut chance in a futile search for an equaliser.
Fulham’s faltering start to the Premier League season had garnered some momentum following their first win on Monday, but it all ebbed away in a ridiculous end to their London derby at West Ham this evening. Having defended resolutely for ninety minutes, a lack of communication between Joachim Andersen and Ola Aina allowed Thomas Soucek to fire the hosts in front in injury time. When all hope appeared lost, salvation came in the form of a penalty, awarded for Said Benrahma’s felling of Tom Cairney as every Fulham player crowded the box in search of an unlikely equaliser. Aleksandar Mitrovic was demoted from spot-kick duty, having missed one at Sheffield United last month, but Ademola Lookman’s bright start to his Fulham career could be a mere footnote after his pitiful Paneka attempt barely reached the goalline, allowing Lukasz Fabianki the simplest of saves.
As ever, with Fulham, it is the hope that kills you. Lookman looked crestfallen after his ill-judged attempt to outwit the West Ham goalkeeper that meant Scott Parker’s side lost a game they were very much in until the very end. In a season where scrapping for your lives is the order of the day, coughing up three points through two failures from twelve yards is unforgiveable. Mitrovic might have skied his Bramall Lane effort, but the Serbian was surely a better option to take such a high pressure kick?
On such moments can campaigns turn. A furious Parker was already upset that West Ham’s goal had been allowed to stand, arguing that Sebastian Haller was in an offside position when Vladimir Coufal crossed into the box. Andersen, otherwise excellent at the heart of a much more durable Fulham defence, made a hash of a header he might have left, allowing Benrahma to square for Soucek, who had strolled into the box criminally untracked, to drive a low finish past Alphonse Areola.
The visitors had steadied themselves after West Ham had made a fast start and were good value to take something from an even, and intriguing contest. Areola made a smart pair of saves in quick succession to deny Arthur Musuaka from close range and Aaron Creswell from further out after Jarrod Bowen had dispossessed Antonee Robinson. The Fulham goalkeeper made an even better reaction save to tip over a Bowen volley that had deflected off Mitrovic, before Haller headed a presentable opportunity from one of a host of early corners against the crossbar.
Fulham gradually found their poise and pretty passing patterns, but Mitrovic wasn’t quite sharp enough to exploit a pair of probing balls from Tom Cairney and Robinson, who combined effectively with Lookman down the left. He steered a header wide with Fulham’s best chance before the break and berated himself for not doing better after pulling away from Creswell to reach a looping Cairney cross.
The Whites had to endure another early spell of prolonged West Ham pressure after the restart. Areola got the feintest of touches to a venomous Creswell free-kick, even if the referee gave a goalkick. There was another fortunate escape when Bowen pulled the trigger from the edge of the box – this time a wicked deflection left the Fulham keeper stranded but the ball dropped wide of goal.
But, as in the first period, Fulham roused themselves and fashioned a pair of chances to grab a late winner. Lookman lashed an indirect free-kick from the edge of the box straight at Fabianski before a smart break saw Bobby Decordova-Reid’s angled drive test the ex-Arsenal goalkeeper again. Benrahma and Lanzini were given just under twenty minutes to find a winner, with the Algerian international twice denied by Areola at his near post when a cut-back looked a more profitable option. Fulham fluffed a great chance to find a winner themselves when a lightning counter-attack offered Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa the chance to steal in at the back post, but the Cameroon midfielder opted against taking on the first team shot.
At that point, the game looked set to peter out into a tame draw that would have represented a creditable return to one of his former clubs for Parker, but the stoppage time drama means the Fulham boss has another big job on his hands to lift his charges ahead of a tricky fun of fixtures following the international break.
WEST HAM UNITED (3-4-3): Fabianski; Balbuena, Ogbonna (Diop 63), Cresswell; Coufal, Masuaku, Soucek, Rice; Bowen (Lanzini 72), Fornals (Benrahma 72), Haller. Subs (not used): Randolph, Fredericks, Snodgrass, Yarmolenko.
Ream, who has made five league appearances this year for Fulham, is in line to win his 41st senior international cap if he is included in the starting line-up for either of the fixtures. The experienced centre back has featured prominently in the American set-up since a recall a couple of years ago, although he is likely to find regular game time at club level more difficult to come by after being replaced in the starting line-up by new arrivals Tosin Adarabioyo and Joachim Andersen.
Left back Robinson has won seven senior caps for the States and caught the eye with an energetic display in Fulham’s first league win of the season last night against West Bromwich Albion. The 23 year-old recently displaced play-off hero Joe Bryan in Scott Parker’s side and had a hand in the first goal last night, producing a beautiful cross for Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Goalscoring hero Ola Aina has called on his Fulham team-mates to ‘kick on’ from what he described as a ‘massive’ win over West Brom last night and move up the Premier League table.
The on-loan Torino full back struck his first top flight goal, a sensational strike from 20 yards, to double Fulham’s lead against the Baggies and secure a first league victory of the season for Scott Parker’s side. The win saw the Whites leapfrog their fellow strugglers into seventeenth in the table and Aina told the Evening Standard afterwards just how precious those three points felt:
“It was massive. Everyone knows it has been a tough start to the season and to get the three points and the clean sheet, those things are very important. We dug in and really showed some resilience, it is an amazing feeling. It is a long season, the team and myself have to take every game as it comes. You have to work hard at that, keep training and putting in the effort. What we did last night, that needs to be the minimum. Hopefully, we can kick on from here and keep improving.”
The versatile defender heaped praise on manager Scott Parker for keeping his side focused during a tough few weeks at the start of their Premier League return.
He has been great, keeping the belief within the camp and he always tells us that he believes in each and everyone of us, believes in our ability and what we can achieve. He has been very positive with us — where we lack, he lets us know, and where we do well, he lets us know. He is a very truthful guy and he has been great.
Aina was delighted to get on a scoresheet and hopes to be able to establish himself in the top flight, having moved to Italy after failing to make the breakthrough with Chelsea.
It is always special getting your first Premier League goal. It has been a long time since I made my league debut. I am just glad that the goal came and I was able to help the team with it. It is a dream to play in the Premier League and score, and get games in the Premier League. When I left Chelsea, it was kick-starting a career for myself. I always wanted to come back and play in the Premier League. I am just happy that I am making it a reality.
Doesn’t the table look much sweeter after a victory? Scott Parker might insist that he will learn little from Fulham’s elevation to seventeenth place, but in terms of the fans’ morale those three points and a sniff of safety – even at this early stage – makes a real difference. Beating the other strugglers is the bread and butter of a relegation fight (something the Whites haven’t consistently mustered in the past) and, however poor West Brom were last night, Fulham dispatched them with a real ruthlessness that bodes well for the weeks ahead.
Parker deserves huge credit for engineering a victory when both goals and points looked tough to come by. His key alterations from the defeat by Crystal Palace, where the same sort of problems dogged a ponderous side, were hugely vindicated. Ruben Loftus-Cheek comes to Craven Cottage with real pedigree, but a lack of form and fitness has undermined his undoubted talent in recent years. He might have been ill-served by being shoved out on the right against Palace, but there was a listlessness about his play that Fulham couldn’t afford. Compare and contrast with Bobby Decordova-Reid, who approached the right wing role with hunger, bagging the opening goal as his reward – and the Jamaican forward could easily had another late on.
The boon was the introduction of Joachim Andersen – significantly ahead of schedule after his ankle injury – at centre back. You sense our survival hopes are intertwined with the Danish defender’s fitness and fortunes. He was composed, comfortable in possession and regularly in the right position, something you couldn’t say about some of his predecessors in our back line, reading danger reassuringly. There will be far stiffer tests to come but this was encouraging start at tackling the team’s Achilles heel. Building a partnership with Toisin Adarabioyo, who put together another strong display, will help build confidence as well as a back four that can avoid basic mistakes.
There was clearly a change in approach from the early weeks of the season. We’ve speculated before about whether Parker’s approach will be better suited to the top flight than the Jokanovic method and perhaps this was the first time the manager’s pragmatism bore fruit. Fulham had just 46% of possession, having dominated the ball against all opponents bar Arsenal this season, but they used it far more effectively in the final third. A more direct approach didn’t dovetail with an abundance of caution, as seen from the thrust provided by the frequent forward forays of our full backs, but it did play to the strengths of Aleksandar Mitrovic, as evidenced by the Serbian’s pair of assists – a first for him in English league football.
Mitrovic, who has come in for his critics at times this season, thrives on the sort of service that Antonee Robinson delivered for the first goal. The thrust came from Andre-Frank Anguissa, dynamic from a deep lying midfield position, and Robinson’s deep cross was perfect for Mitrovic to attack at the back post. That he aimed across goal after soaring high showed both his own awareness and the value of flooding the box with numbers, which Fulham have failed to do enough this season, and Decordova-Reid could hardly miss with his own header from close range.
Robinson was a potent threat all night, utterly justifying his selection ahead of Joe Bryan, but also showed commendable defensive skills when necessary. His pace provides a real outlet down the left flank and, as Ademola Lookman and he develop a greater understanding, there could be real joy down that side. Ola Aina probably won’t ever strike a ball better than he did for that stunning second, demonstrating that he was genuinely two-footed, but the precise passing and movement that created the space for the strike shouldn’t go unnoticed. Moving the ball with purpose and at pace creates opportunities – and that has to be the lesson to take from this success rather than returning to the ponderous possession-based stuff that is easy to defend against for disciplined sides at this level.
Perhaps the most striking thing about Fulham’s success last night are the options that Parker has at his disposal in midfield. Mario Lemina offered both energy and significant cover in front of the back four, delivering the kind of display that explained why the Whites were keen to recruit him. In his own understated way, Harrison Reed showed just how important an acquisition he was with another excellent second half cameo – and the competition for places is exceedingly healthy. Anguissa, one sloppy mistake aside when he gifted Karlan Grant an opportunity to bring the Baggies back in the game, strode through the centre of the park like a colossus. We didn’t see enough of his creative side two seasons ago, but they was plenty to like about his direct running into the heart of Albion territory, often allied with a forward pass. Tom Cairney dictated proceedings with that air of arrogance that has sometimes been missing from his displays at this level, but his imprint was all over this performer. The captain attracted some silly internet carping for featuring both his goal and a place in the Premier League team of the week on his Instagram after the Palace reverse but he answered those critics in the best way possible, with a first-class performance that deserved to be capped by a delightful chip that so nearly brought a third goal.
Nobody should be under illusions that this fixes all the problems that have surfaced in the first couple of months of the step up to the Premier League. West Brom were woeful, a fact that Slaven Bilic bluntly acknowledged afterwards, and Fulham’s fixture list throws up some significant tests in the next few weeks: West Ham away, Everton at home, Leceister City away, followed by a trip to Manchester City and the hosting of Liverpool in December. Parker struck the right tone afterwards, emphasising the importance of continuing the learning on the training pitches and building on this success, but momentum is vital in this league and, after weeks of woe, this result will do wonders for Fulham’s confidence.
