In October 1976, four years before Whites' manager Scott Parker was born, Fulham travelled to Bolton for a fractious League Cup tie.
Fulham striker John Mitchell gave a post-match interview and said: "It was very physical. Their defender Allardyce hit me with a left hook, and I thought my jaw had been broken."
Last Saturday, Big Sam delivered two further heavy punches (legitimately this time) when Fulham visited West Bromwich Albion.
It had all begun so well. With a fit-looking Aleksandar Mitrovic back in the starting XI and interacting with Ademola Lookman, the team attacked from the first minute and took the lead almost immediately.
Mitro and Lookman set up Bobby DeCordova, who scored with his usual flair. The duo then gave Ruben Loftus-Cheek a similar opportunity, which Sam Johnstone easily foiled. After DeCordova narrowly missed doubling the lead, Allardyce withdrew his centre back Dara O'Shea replacing him with Kyle Bartley. Despite this change Fulham still tore through the home defence.
For the second half Allardyce sent on the newly arrived Mbaye Diagne, instructing the team to 'play to him and play off him as much as you possibly can'. The substitution inspired the Baggies to break though Fulham's widely praised defence. Matheus Pereira's cross, fortuitously deflected off Ola Aina, gave Bartley a simple goal. Then Pereira put his team ahead after Diagne exploited Tosin's error.
Good TV?
This turnaround made good television, but it left Scott Parker and the Fulham fanbase utterly stunned. So far, the manager had had mixed success with his substitutions, and I wonder how many people expected Harrison Reed and Ivan Cavaleiro to provide an equaliser. Four minutes after their arrival the Portuguese forward dived low to meet Reed's cunning centre and headed the ball beyond Johnstone's reach.
The match produced no further goals. A point each was a fair reward and the managers must have appreciated the vast improvement in attack, but pundits still expect both teams to accompany Sheffield United back into the Championship at the end of the season. Results elsewhere did little to undermine that assumption.
No double with the Foxes
A rare highlight of Fulham's season was the victory at Leicester City.
Anyone hoping for a similar triumph when the teams met on Wednesday at the Cottage will have been swiftly disillusioned by Kelechi Iheanacho's 17th minute goal.
Standing in for Jamie Vardy he deftly headed James Maddison's centre into the roof of the net. (This was Groundhog Day plus one, as two seasons ago the same combination had performed a similar trick early in the corresponding match, on that occasion being foiled by goalkeeper Sergio Rico.)
The Whites stayed calm and continued to play possession football even though the strategy had been partly responsible for the goal. Mitro's confidence seemed to have evaporated once more, and it was Areola's brilliance that kept the deficit from increasing. When he was eventually beaten by Caglar Soyuncu the officials rightly disallowed the point.
Just before halftime, Antonee Robinson led a raid that won Fulham a corner. Tosin's powerful header was saved by Kasper Schmeichel and a City breakaway brought them a second goal, Maddison and Iheanacho providing James Justin this time. Defeat on home soil appeared inevitable.
Scott Parker brought on Cavaleiro and Mario Lemina after the break. They provided a brief flurry of activity, after which Fulham's attack offered little threat. Tosin's header remained the team's only effort on target in the whole match.
With Brighton winning at Liverpool, it makes Parker's mission look close to impossible.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
Want to read more news stories like this? Subscribe to our weekly e-news bulletin.
By sending us a comment, you are agreeing to our publishing policy.
