Everton 1-1 Fulham (Fulham win 7-6 on pens)
If the five-goal victories over Nottingham Forest and West Ham were early Christmas presents, the Whites still had a surprise for the fans by securing a place in the League Cup semi-finals.
First, they had to eliminate Everton, their Tuesday night opponents, who had lost to the Londoners twice already in 2023.
In truth much of this quarterfinal proved less than thrilling. Fulham took the lead just before the interval without having registered a single shot on target.
After Willian's free kick had come close, he set up Antonee Robinson whose centre bounced off the unfortunate Michael Keane and into Jordan Pickford's net. Some solid defending thereafter looked likely to take the Londoners through, only for substitute Neto to force home a very late equaliser. The last-minute scramble provided excitement – but no winning goal for either side.
Heading to penalties, it was to Everton's advantage that their supporters were packed behind the chosen goal. Their first four players scored with ease as did Andreas Pereira, but Pickford almost saved the efforts of Tom Cairney and Joao Palhinha and he did intercept Bobby DeCordova-Reid's underpowered attempt.
Amadou Onana could have won the match for them but he was too casual and Bernd Leno saved. After Vinicius levelled the tie, four more kicks registered, defenders Robinson and Kenny Tete keeping the Whites in the competition. Somebody had to fold and this fate befell Idrissa Gueye. Fulham's hopes now rested on Tosin and he showed enviable calm as he planted the ball beyond Pickford's reach. What a climax to a nail-biting evening. The Whites were through to their first EFL semi-final.
Magpies miscue
This achievement wiped out the disappointment of last Saturday's match at St James Park.
It had started well, with the rejuvenated Raul Jimenez trying a spectacular overhead kick. Unfortunately, in the 21st minute the same player ruined his team's chance of a third consecutive win (and spoilt his comeback) after Jamaal Lascelles hit him in the face with his elbow.
Infuriated by the unconcern of the match officials Jimenez hurtled into Sean Longstaff with something resembling a karate kick. In previous seasons it would have earned a straight red but recently referees have been more tolerant of physical contact as Sam Barrott produced a mere yellow.
After Michael Salisbury the VAR directed him to the screen, the card soon changed to red. Ironically, when Salisbury was the on-field ref recently he took a lenient attitude to a head butt by Carlos Vinicius.
Despite their numerical advantage Newcastle failed to overwhelm the visitors in the first half and Alex Iwobi had the chance of scoring, which he tamely wasted under pressure from Dan Burn.
As the game progressed, Bruno Guimaraes became ever more of a threat, In the 57th minute he shrugged off defenders to provide a first goal for 17-year-old Lewis Miley.
Soon afterwards when Antonee Robinson pushed Calum Wilson to the ground, the referee ignored penalty calls but as play continued Miguel Almiron scored anyway.
The final goal came when substitute Bobby DeCordova-Reid incurred a free kick and Dan Burn bundled the ball into the net from Bruno's centre. I always admired Dan in his Fulham days and he has certainly profited from moving on.
Bonhams auction
I mentioned last week the Bonhams auction of football pictures.
The cartoons proved popular not just because they are less expensive. I found Norman Thelwell's particularly nostalgic because they spotlighted some almost forgotten features of the game – police dogs controlling the crowds at some grounds, virtually empty terraces at others. 'Call yourself a supporter?' shout the pitch-invading mob at the only spectator still standing behind the goal. I sympathise with him as I mildly resent being told to 'stand up if you love Fulham'.
The cartoons remind us of the St John's Ambulance volunteers always ready with their stretchers. In one, they are carrying a patient down an unpopulated terrace and lamenting 'I can remember when we got them passed down to us' and, sure enough, another picture shows a sufferer being crowd-surfed and still having the energy to berate the footballers. His cry of 'Get rid of it, man' would be anathema to modern coaches. In those days supporters would only shout 'Get rid' at their own team. If the opposition cleared their lines, the cry would be 'Anywhere'.
Not for sale, as far as I know, are the 'We can dream' cartoons that Paul Johnson did for that marvellous magazine 'There's only one F in Fulham'. The fans are certainly dreaming now, just as they did in 2010.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
