Taking the field for their last home match of the Championship programme, Fulham's players were greeted with a ticker tape welcome. Two hours later, they joined the fans in celebrating a historic victory over Brentford.
All right, I admit it was not real ticker tape, just torn up electioneering leaflets. And the Whites did not actually win. Nevertheless, the 1-1 draw – combined with results elsewhere – made it almost certain that in a fortnight's time the Cottage will stage the playoff between Fulham and the team that finishes third in the table.
After so many years of rivalry no one expected Brentford to be a soft touch. Sure enough they came looking for an early goal but Sone Aluko had similar ambitions. Having lost possession in midfield he regained the ball and released Ryan Sessegnon on the left. Ryan made for the goal andthen provided a perfect opening for Tom Cairney. It was 1-0 after just eight minutes.
This should have steadied the team's nerves but over-excitement led to Cairney and Ayite wasting excellent chances before Nico Yennaris equalised for Brentford. Worse still, the Fulham captain missed a penalty just before the interval, when Daniel Bentley dived to his left and smothered the ball. The keeper was lucky to escape injury in the resulting melee.
I believe that it was our ninth spot-kick failure this season. Fulham have squandered more penalties than most other clubs have been awarded. At halftime some academy youngsters showed that it is possible to score from the spot even when the goalkeeper is twice the size of the person taking the kick.
In the second half, Bentley and Marcus Bettinelli ensured that there were no more goals, and the points were shared. The home defence had done its job but the team's overall performance fell below the recent high standard. Still, Leeds United had also dropped two points, and they will need an improbably high goal tally next Sunday to have any chance of replacing Fulham in the playoffs.
Head coach Slavisa Jokanovic had already vetoed an end of season parade after the Brentford match in case the players might catch the holiday mood, but he may rest key members of the squad next Sunday: "Some players have played many minutes so we need to try and find the best solution for how we are going to play against Sheffield Wednesday."
Jokanovic hopes to reduce the risk of injuries and fatigue whilst maintaining the momentum. Sunday's result will matter more to Sheffield Wednesday than to Fulham, but it would be a morale booster for the Whites to extend their unbeaten run to six matches.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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