Fulham 2–1 Leicester City
Birmingham City 0-2 Fulham
Ahead of Tuesday night's Carabao Cup-tie with Fulham, Birmingham City may have been encouraged by Marco Silva's decision to make eleven changes to the team that had started in their Premier League match three days before.
Unfortunately for the Blues, nine of the replacements had represented their country at some level - including Jay Stansfield who had spent last season on loan to Birmingham and had been their top scorer.
Undaunted, City made a bright start to the match, only to concede a penalty in the tenth minute. The referee Keith Stroud deemed Alex Cochrane guilty of handling the ball and there was no VAR to question the verdict. Raul Jimenez seized the opportunity of opening his account.
Christoph Klarer gave the home supporters hope with a firm header but goalkeeper Steven Benda saved confidently. Almost immediately Stansfield latched onto a long pass from Joachim Andersen and doubled the lead.
Normally I find it tiresome when players refuse to celebrate a goal against a former club, but I do understand Jay's situation. Anyway, he then tried a 40 yard lob to embarrass goalie Ryan Allsop. Apart from a goal-line clearance by Timothy Castagne and a free kick from Willum Willumsson that hit the bar, the visitors' defence was in control. Ryan Sessegnon and Senda Berge seemed to be settling in well.
Manager Chris Davies did his best to inspire City to a second half fight-back. Benda kept out Cochrane's long range effort but otherwise the Blues wasted their chances, a fault not confined to League One clubs (Harry Wilson fluffed two chances). It was a pity that substitute Josh King's late goal was disallowed because Adama Traore had let the ball out of play before crossing. Marco Silva could be well pleased with the 2-0 victory and the performance of his 'second string'.
First home game of the season
Last Saturday we arrived at Craven Cottage some forty minutes before kick-off, fearful that the new-style season tickets would lead to long queues. On the contrary we were able to enter the ground very quickly, my daughter using her phone and I proudly tapping my (dinosaur) plastic card. The reason for this smoothness was soon apparent; the walkways below the stands were crammed with supporters who had also taken the precaution of arriving early. It meant that we had the chance to renew old acquaintances and (glory be) most people were settled in their seats before kick-off.
The Fulham team, greeted with a bizarre pyrotechnic display, had a familiar look with Emile Smith Rowe the only newcomer. He enjoyed a notable home debut following his promising display at Old Trafford.
Leicester City included Bobby DeCordova-Reid clearly anxious to score against his old mates. He tested Bernd Leno in the 11th minute but thereafter he, like the venerable Jamie Vardy, had a quiet match. When Bobby was substituted after an hour's play he left the field to a warm-hearted ovation from the home supporters.
From the start the Whites had threatened the Leicester goal. Traore had an early shot palmed away by Mads Hermansen before switching the ball to the left to allow a confident Smith Rowe to open his account. Referee Darren Bond could have awarded Fulham a free kick for a foul on Rodrigo Muniz but he wisely played the advantage rule.
The industrious Muniz should have doubled the lead from Antonee Robinson's cross but the header was misdirected. Instead Fulham allowed the visitors to equalise when Facundo Buonanotte's corner was powerfully headed past Leno by Wout Faes. Oddly this goal was sanctioned only after a lengthy VAR discussion and a video check. True, Vardy had been making a nuisance of himself but how often has a goal from a corner been judged offside? Muniz came closest to scoring when he drew a prodigious save from Hermansen.
After the interval Fulham continued their dominance and Muniz continued to squander opportunities. He performed one of his favoured overhead kicks but it was wildly inaccurate. Marco Silva delayed making changes until the 68thminute and the winning goal followed almost immediately though the substitutes were not involved. Antonee Robinson put Alex Iwobi through and the forward supplied the sort of finish that he needs to achieve more often.
Any Fulham fan and any neutral quizzed about the team's performance would have rated it satisfactory at the very least but eighteen efforts should have produced more than two home goals. Right to the end Leicester could have sneaked an equaliser. As in the previous week Leno made a careless error only to redeem himself with a brilliant save (from Wilfred Ndidi this time).
Marco Silva prefers to have a settled team rather than indulge in endless tinkering. It will not be straightforward with so many good players to choose from.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
