Southampton 0-2 Fulham
Fulham's penultimate away game involved a visit to Southampton.
Since the Hampshire club occupied the bottom place in the Premier League with just 24 points, it was otiose as well as unkind of the traveling supporters to chant: "You're going down." Have they forgotten how miserable that same experience felt two years ago?
In a largely nondescript first half, the home side's Lyanco Vojnovic looked to have handled a Carlos Vinicius header – but no penalty resulted. I do not share the opinion of commentators Jim and Jamie that Fulham regularly get a raw deal from officials, but the handball rules do need a lot more thought. Lyanco also intercepted a goal-bound effort by Willian, but with the legitimate use of his head.
Southampton displayed more spirit after the interval and delighted their fans with a well-crafted Carlos Alcaras goal, only to see the referee's assistant belatedly flag offside.
This unnecessary delay is another irritant in the modern game. The incident roused Fulham into immediate retaliation. Tom Cairney led the breakaway and though Harry Wilson overhit his pass Harrison Reed dived in to put Vinicius in the clear, presenting the Brazilian with another goal. From nowhere he had become Fulham's second top scorer.
With that goal to his credit Vinicius will not have been too disconcerted by the sight of Aleksandar Mitrovic eager to enter the fray after his lengthy suspension. In the 65th minute, to most supporters' delight, the big man took to the field and not long afterwards had the ball in the net. Wilson's centre was meticulous this time and Mitro made the diving header look so easy.
Clean sheet
With the Fulham defence enjoying a rare clean sheet the match was effectively over, as was Southampton's time in the Premier League. Man of the Match Harrison Reed regretted his former club's misfortune but had 'no doubt they'll bounce back and come back strong'.
This was the Londoners' 15th win in the Premier League (the seventh away from home) – an unprecedented achievement by Marco Silva and his players and staff.
At the start of this season I was musing 'whether the team can live with Liverpool… and establish themselves in the top tier'. Strengthened by the introduction of Joao Palhinha and Andrea Pereira (and cheered on by the growing band of supporters) Fulham drew 2-2 with Liverpool at the Cottage in the opening match. Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice, a header and a penalty, making an early statement that he was now ready for the top tier. As was Fulham.
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno proved another shrewd signing but old favourites like Mitrovic, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, Tosin and Kenny Tete seemed to flourish at this exalted level. Fulham's 3-2 victory over Brentford indicated that at last, we could beat a Premier team from the metropolis.
There were failures, notably a disastrous 4-1 hammering by the burgeoning Newcastle. The Whites also lost to West Ham and were then held to a 2-2 draw by Bournemouth. Was it Willian's arrival that brightened the outlook?
His debut match hastened the departure of Aston Villa's manager Steven Gerrard and three days later Fulham inflicted more misery on the embattled manager of Leeds, Jesse Marsch.
Southampton had deposed their manager a month before they visited the Cottage on New Year's Eve, appointing Nathan Jones (who only lasted till February). The Whites won that home match 2-1 and completed the double in May, watched by Saints supporter Rishi Sunak.
With two matches to go Fulham (and Brentford) are certain to finish in the top half of the table above Crystal Palace, West Ham and a third London club, the name of which I withhold in order to avoid accusations of schadenfreude.
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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