Fulham 1-0 Luton Town
Last Saturday (16 September) was quite probably the last day of the summer's heat.
Fulham played their second Premier League home match of the season, welcoming Luton Town to the Cottage. As at other grounds, the crowd paid a respectful silent tribute to the people of North Africa engulfed in natural disasters. Fulham fans also embraced the chance to say (and sing) their farewells to Mohammed Al Fayed. The Hammersmith End displayed a hand-painted banner inscribed 'RIP Mo – Fulham Legend'.
For the Whites, Timothy Castagne replaced the injured Antonee Robinson and fitted in comfortably. It was good too to see Willian and Joao Palhinha return to the starting line-up. Match of the Day Commentator Danny Murphy rightly described Palhinha's mindset as exceptional and refreshing, despite his failed deadline day transfer to Bayern Munich.
Searching
Luton, searching for their first point, defended in depth while seizing every opportunity to break away.
Tahith Chong gave an early warning of this though his shot barely tested Bernd Leno. Carlton Morris was well off target, but Jacob Brown's powerful headed thudded against the crossbar. Fulham of course had most of the possession but produced little in attack, Kenny Tete perhaps coming closest.
The BBC's editing gave the impression that the visitors dominated the first half. This was misleading, but they certainly provided most of the excitement. The 46 minutes allotted by the officials seemed longer.
After the interval Brown laid on a reasonable chance but Leno had no problems with Amari'I Bell's volley. Though Palhinha headed just over there was no real improvement in Fulham's play until the hour mark when Marco Silva sent on Alex Iwobe and Carlos Vinicius.
Four minutes later a low centre from Willian embarrassed the Luton keeper and the predatory Vinicius seized on his error thumping home what proved to be the winner.
Flagging
Luton were flagging now. A long range shot from Palhinha almost doubled the lead. It was a shame that he failed to score but at least he avoided a yellow card. Even Marco Silva must have felt content with referee Michael Salisbury and the crowd sang 'Can we have you every week?'
Alex Iwobe had a mixed debut. He made what could have been a costly mistake, but he was involved in the goal and also came close to scoring. The fans have high expectations of him.
The visitors' manager Rob Edwards tried a mass substitution and if Tom Lockyer had connected with a low centre they would have stolen a point in the last minute. Both Edwards and Silva proclaimed positives in their post-match interviews, but Luton face a hard season and Fulham are yet to reorganise their attack (just two efforts on target) and tighten their defence.
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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