Manchester City 3-2 Fulham
On Saturday the 23 April 2008 Fulham travelled to Manchester City in search of an improbable victory that would sustain the club's hopes of avoiding relegation.
Goals from City's Stephen Ireland and Benjani Mwaruwari made the task look impossible but the final 23 minutes of the game transformed everything. Roy Hodgson sent on Diomansy Kamara, who scored almost immediately. Erik Nevland (also a substitute) was felled in the Manchester penalty area, allowing Danny Murphy to equalise despite Joe Hart's initial save.
With seconds remaining Kamara raced through the home defence and crowned a vital 3-2 victory.
The following season saw Fulham blossom under Hodgson. City with Mark Hughes in charge splashed the cash but finished in mid-table. The Whites achieved seventh position and qualified for the Europa League.
When the teams met at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday the 12 April 2009 Ireland again opened the scoring but the second half saw Fulham dominant with two goals from Clint Dempsey and one from Dickson Etuhu.
Six months later (25 October) City's Emmanuel Adebayor and Martin Petrov created a two goal lead only for Damien Duff and Clint Dempsey to earn Fulham a point.
The 2010-11 match also ended in a draw. The high-spending Premier League club seemed unable to beat the Whites on its home territory so we could scarcely anticipate that the April '09 victory would never be repeated.
Fulham take early lead
Last Saturday Fulham gave a magnificent performance on that Manchester pitch.
After a (rather typical) nervous start they cheekily outplayed their hosts in the first half. Adama Traore on the left aways had the beating of Rico Lewis. This allowed him a one-on-one with Ederson, the keeper saving with his legs. It was the first of three opportunities that Adama failed to exploit.
In the 26th minute Antonee Robinson and Alex Iwobi combined to allow Raul Jimenez one of his inspired backheels from which Andreas Pereira opened the scoring. It was a delicious moment for Fulham supporters though they will have been aware that the full-time whistle was a long way ahead. Eighteen months ago Carlos Vinicius had delighted the Cottage with his unexpected equaliser but City went on to win.
Traore should have doubled the score but he shot well over the bar. Unfortunately the same player then contributed to City's equaliser. His careless clearance teed up Mateo Kovacic to thump the ball past Bernd Leno. There may have been a small deflection but the shot was unstoppable.
Dominant City
The beginning of a half can often be perilous for Fulham. Almost directly after the interval the slick passing of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Bernado Silva caught the defence off guard and Kovacic again delivered the telling blow.
Disappointed but resolute the Whites continued to harass City. Jeremy Doku's 82nd minute rocket made the score that flattering 3-1. Step forward substitute Rodrigo Muniz, who was ringed by defenders but managed to swivel and flick the ball into the City net.
Yes, Fulham could have won, though even if they had scored five goals those Big Blue Meanies would have probably scraped six.
Untypically Marco Silva singled out one player in his after-match comments. No-one would dissent from the head coach's enthusiastic praise for Alex Iwobi, so strong in defence and attack yet it was a great day for the whole team.
I only regret that a certain Spaniard had travelled without his shooting boots.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
