Ipswich Town 1-3 Fulham
It has been a patchy season so far, but Fulham looked relaxed and focussed for Wednesday night's Carabao Cup tie at Ipswich.
As expected, Tom Cairney took charge, with Marek Rodak in goal. Some less familiar players were also included – but it was Harry Wilson who made an immediate impact.
Bobby DeCordova-Reid's diagonal pass found him unmarked and the Welshman easily evaded the imprudent keeper Christian Walton, scoring in the eighth minute. Harry's was the only goal in a lively first half though Rodak nearly erred in playing from the back and Walton also enjoyed good fortune when he pushed Calvin Bassey's shot against the upright.
Onslaught
The onslaught continued after the interval with Wilson and Andreas Pereira creating a goal for the industrious Rodrigo Muniz before Marco Silva's usual mass substitution brought Harrison Reed, Alex Iwobe and Raul Jimenez into the action.
Jimenez responded by combining with Pereira to provide Captain Cairney with a goal. Though Ipswich substitute Elkan Baggott secured a late consolation the contented Londoners could look forward to a quarter final which would entail this season's second visit to Everton. Senior players Cairney and Wilson probably did not begrudge 18-year-old Luc de Fougerolles pipping them for the Man of the Match award.
If only the Premier League were so straightforward.
Brighton
When Fulham journeyed to Brighton on the last Sunday of October much of the talk (especially from the club's resident commentators Jim and Jamie) related to January 2024. There was a feeling that we should almost forget about the players already recruited this season and rely on the New Year intake to solve our problems. However tempting, such a belief raises another problem: If the club begins 2024 somewhere near the bottom of the table how attractive will it be to potential new signings?
The first half of Sunday's match went some way to justify Jim and Jamie's concern. Marco Silva had shuffled the cards again, so out went Pereira, Carlos Vinicius and Sasa Lukic to be replaced by Iwobi, Jimenez and Harrison Reed. Iwobi did inject some energy, but Fulham's attack still seemed to rely on occasional forays by Willian.
Double save
Brighton betrayed few signs of fatigue from the previous Thursday's European tie and Bernd Leno was much busier in the first half than his opposite number Jason Steele. In particular, Leno made a double save that was quite stunning. The home side went ahead in the 26th minute when Reed surrendered the ball to Igor Julio and Pascal Gross made an opening for Evan Ferguson.
Joao Palhinha prevented Ferguson from doubling his tally, but the Portuguese was somewhat fortunate to be still on the pitch, having elbowed Gross earlier in the match. Once again, referee Michael Salisbury showed excessive tolerance towards this gifted footballer. The Fulham website included the incident in Palhinha's showreel – but not in slow motion.
Marco Silva's half-time talks can work wonders as can his 60th minute substitutions. After a Lewis Dunk free kick hit the bar, Wilson, Pereira and Muniz came on to contribute to a Fulham revival. Alex Iwobi exploited Lewis Dunk's unconvincing attempt to play from defence and passed to Wilson, who found Palhinha on the edge of the penalty area. His shot on the turn was impeccable.
Either side could have snatched victory. Antonee Robinson made a goal-line clearance from a Brighton corner while Steele was tested by Muniz and Pereira.
The sharing of points means that Fulham have accumulated a dozen from the first 10 games. Between now and the end of December the club will face Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle and Arsenal (to name but a few).
It is a tough ask but as my optimistic cousin reminds me the club had a similar points total after the first 10 fixtures of last season – and the 2022-23 season did not turn out so bad.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
