From winless to winners - Fulham have found a second victory in as many games with a late Oscar Bobb strike against Coventry City. A frustrating game saw Fulham struggle to generate a serious threat, but patience and the right substitutes at last from Alvaro Arbeloa saw Bobb daze the defence and score a fabulous goal late in the half to lift Fulham out of the relegation zone. Our 1-0 triumph will hardly end the questions still lingering around the club, but the delight on the players’ faces signifies the importance of the victory today, a much needed confidence-boost for a team still finding their feet under the new manager.
First Half
Sander Berge’s illness forced Arbeloa to make a change to our starting line-up: Hugo Larsson played alongside Shea Charles in midfield, starting in the league for the first time. Unsurprisingly the alteration took a little readjustment for Fulham, and in front of their own fans began the game with gusto, taking advantage of our early stodginess to drum up some energy. It was bright, if lacking cutting edge, and early in-roads in the form of a long-throw, a Thomas-Asante long shot and some fuss from the resulting corner proved comfortable for our defence to deal with.
A little assertiveness from Charles in midfield gave Fulham momentum, taking the ball and aiming an effort Rushworth had to smother in goal. Our team stepped forward, trying to move the match’s gravity into Coventry territory. The composure in the final third was lacking, the clinical touch deserting more than a few Fulham players, and Coventry’s threat shifted into the counter-attack. Bobb, found by Iwobi, used his footwork to get around Dasilva, but Garcia couldn’t turn the cut-back into a tangible shot. It allowed the hosts to get back on the ball, the left-back flying down the wings with greater space and combining with Rudoni to create a cross for Sakamoto, who won the header but could only loop the ball upwards for an easy catch for Leno. The winger was involved again, taking the ball from Yirenki and trickling a dangerous ball through Robinson - Fulham were fortunate it found no one.
Some more fine footwork from Bobb slipped the ball to Josh King, tucked into a pocket of space in the box - he took some deft touches to create the angle away from Grimes and blasted his shot over a prone Rushworth. Sadly it crashed off the frame of the goal, and though Iwobi collected the rebound nicely his attempt was even wilder, fired over the bar. Of course, these forays into danger weren’t deterring the hosts, and some good hold-up play from striker Cherif won a free-kick from Bassey that saw Rudoni’s kick headed wide by Thomas. It seemed to offer a spark of life from the hosts, Rudoni striding away from a timid Castagne and linking with Dasilva in the space the midfielder created to put another dangerous ball into the box; Thomas-Asante, undetected in the centre, reached the ball before Affengruber but spun his header over the bar.
We started to see Fulham’s usual possession shape the flow of the game, but our play was too neat and predictable to maintain consistent pressure on Coventry’s backline and mistakes started creeping into our play. King was energetic and quick to latch onto loose balls in Coventry’s half, but Garcia’s vacuousness up front continued, wasting King’s forwardness with a nothing shot into Thomas and a general inattentiveness for our moves in the box. Antonee Robinson was really struggling, his crossing radar askew throughout the half and scuppering attacks on the left consistently. A particularly ugly moment saw him smack a cross out of play and then miscue a backpass from Coventry’s ball forward into the air, spinning awkwardly off his boot - Thomas-Asante had the speed to fly into action but couldn’t get himself into a proper shooting stride and guided the ball into Leno’s reach.
A better ball from Robinson found Bobb, but the winger was reluctant to shoot and Pinnock annulled the danger. Bassey, dispossessing Sakamoto, put a ball behind the backline for King to take into the final third, but Thomas was too physical and marshalled the attacker out of play, and the centre-back had the vision to cut out an incisive pass from Charles to the free run of Larsson. This dithering seemed contagious, surely influenced by the torrid weather blowing across the country. We weren’t piecing things together effectively in areas tentative enough to hurt Coventry - our left-side saw Iwobi drifting languidly and Robinson continue to scuff his way through the game, another hideous piece of play seeing him play the ball straight into Coventry’s defence and then foul Sakamoto in an attempt to win the ball back quickly.
The half ended with some controversy. In typical fashion our pleasant passes to set up opportunities bore little fruit: King taking the ball from Charles and spreading it out to Robinson nicely, Robinson’s cross being cut out by van Ewijk for a corner, the corner coming to nothing, Affengruber making a nice pass to Castagne from deep, Castagne’s cross unable to get around Pinnock’s block, Fulham’s corner from the opposing side coming to nothing. But from the second routine the officials found reason for pause - in a tussle, Thomas-Asante had pulled the shirt of Bassey as the ball came in, preventing the centre-back from contesting the incoming ball. Similar situations have certainly been granted penalties, but VAR, perhaps having spotted Bassey’s instigation of the scuffle, waved it away, and confirmed the half would end goalless in doing so.
Second Half
What could Fulham learn from the first segment of the game? Certainly not enough to temper Coventry’s early energy, as the hosts again flew out of the blocks to try and put pressure on Fulham. Some pressing around our backline gave Bassey cause for concern, fortunate to evade sanction for grappling Sakamoto and hauling him to the ground under a spot of pressure - the right touchline was fertile ground for van Ewijk’s long throws though, and a cheap way for Coventry to test the nerves around our box. Robinson’s wobbles continued, too slow to stop Thomas-Asante striding along his flank and ceding a free-kick in close proximity to goal - Rudoni’s strike needed the wall to brush it away for a corner, the routine requiring Garcia’s intervention to stop the ball being threaded across the box. The danger persisted, our team stuck in a loop of quick clearances and unable to defuse the situation, and with Robinson again conceding a pointless foul on van Ewijk it grew further, Rudoni’s kick taking an awkward near-handball block from Iwobi to keep from goal.
Coventry’s energy started to ebb, and Fulham were back on the ball - yet the same issues from the first half plagued us across our play. Our chances were snapshots, ripples in the pond rather than serious threats, and represented our continued failure to turn our neat play into substantive danger. A moment of disarray from Coventry following some forward passes might have turned into a chance had King, collecting Larsson’s header of a loose ball and flashing a shot along the ground and wide. Frustrating, as Iwobi and Bobb lay unmarked on either side of him. Bassey thumping a hopeless shot into a defender summed up our attacking output, and the nerviness of 0-0 continued to cause headaches at the back, van Ewijk’s pressure prompting Iwobi to make a thoughtless backpass that Leno narrowly slid away from the sprightly Sakamoto. The clearance saw Coventry advance on the right, van Ewijk whipping a ball over Bassey that Cherif narrowly missed, Castagne taking an uncomfortable knock to shuffle the ball out for a corner. Mfuni, who’d arrived for an injured Thomas earlier, was thankfully far less accurate with his sliced volley over the bar.
These were nervy times, and they called for an ice-cool man. Berge arrived for Larsson to offer familiarity and energy in midfield - crucial, given Coventry’s work rate around the pitch. He put himself about, giving Fulham some precious time back on the ball. We asked questions of Coventry at last - a good run forward from Bassey needed Pinnock to intervene in the box, and the corner saw a better routine from Iwobi that led to Castagne heading an effort wide. Lampard, reading the room well, introduced his own troops - Onyeka swapped for a tiring Yirenki, and Mason-Clark and Awoniyi did similar in the front line. It worked well - after warding away a Castagne-won corner they won their own, Rudoni lifting a ball into the box that Mfuni knocked back across the area, Mason-Clark only narrowly beaten to a shot by Leno’s timely smother. Sakamoto, still running well for the hosts, pinched the ball off a dithering Iwobi to ignite Coventry again, and though the killer shot didn’t arrive the energy of Mason-Clark continued to ask tricky questions for the team around the park.
The situation teetered on the edge for Fulham, and thankfully Arbeloa made changes congruent to the actual game - Iwobi, having a poor afternoon, and Garcia, too inconsequential once again, departed for Palacios and Muniz. The Spaniard added extra guile in possession, and had the energy to glide around connecting play, but critically Muniz bolstered our presence in the box, and finally forced the previously-solid defensive quarters into moments of panic. With a little variation, our movement generated a chance - Berge played the ball into King, and though the effort was scuffed off a defender and easily caught by Rushworth, the momentum was there for us.
Palacios moved the ball into Charles, Charles threaded the ball forward for Castagne, bursting through the lines and looping a cross off Dasilva towards goal, and Muniz had the proactiveness to move towards the ball’s destination, forcing Rushworth to flap and push the ball over his crossbar. Though the first corner was quickly blocked, the second required a header away from Pinnock, falling to Robinson’s feet. He moved it to King, King returned the ball to the corner-taker Bobb, and the winger cruised into the box, using his footwork to daze and then defy his marker Rudoni, dragging him deeper and deeper into the area before a piece of agile trickery dinked the ball back into a shooting angle. With Rudoni stumbling the wrong way Bobb’s left-foot curled the ball through the crowd, around van Ewijk’s lunge, around a prone Rushworth, off the far post and into the net. The team were jubilant - Bobb’s technical brilliance had finally created the magic, and we had our lead at last.
1-0, of course, is hardly an insurmountable position, and Arbeloa sought to consolidate the win. Just as last week, Cairney arrived to calm the nerves, with Tete brought on to shore up the defence. He would be needed - Coventry’s troops were winning more free-kicks and swarmed all over our half, and the team required tight defending in the box to repel the balls swung and thrown into danger. A Mason-Clark-won free kick on the left needed Leno to punch it clear, with Berge blocking Grimes’ accurate volley and van Ewijk eventually smacking the ball out of play. Hamer’s arrival from the bench proved more advantageous for us - the attacker removed Sakamoto from the action, and much of the energy Coventry had held with the press - through smart passes from the remaining attackers, Fulham ate away the remaining time, keeping Coventry from instigating enough attacks of their own. We might even have troubled Rushworth again, but for wasted passes in the face of the counter… but it mattered not, as Fulham survived a late Charles handball scare from another Rudoni move along the flank to see out the remainder of the time, and earn a priceless second straight victory.
Two in a row for Fulham
Are Fulham back? The joy of victory certainly offers some temptation on this front, with a second straight win also providing another clean sheet and a healthy boost up the league table. It has to be said that the ugliness of being near the foot of the table dampens the spirit - with that fog removed, even temporarily, there’s an inclination to feel happier about the situation around the club. I feel it is a mixed bag, and one that I can’t give a conclusive verdict on - our tactics wore down Coventry and won the game, and Arbeloa’s changes pushed the game into our court, but his changes wouldn’t have been needed if the initial phase of play wasn’t so sterile for such a period of time.
Oscar Bobb has the headlines for his goal, and deservedly so - it was a rare moment in which all the skill and guile flowed into an end product, and with more confidence such highlights can be a regular feature of his game. It’s nice that the assist came from Josh King, still the best man in our attack - the chemistry they enjoy is one of the key features of the team right now, and King’s ingenuity around the park continues to sit central to all our best moves. Once again I find myself wondering how he didn’t score, denied by the woodwork in the first half - had that gone in, the game may have taken a far nicer demeanour for Fulham.
Garcia, unfortunately, continues to disappoint, and moved himself leftwards to try and get involved in the action - whilst he was better along the flanks, he can’t keep Muniz out of the team based on runs and movement in another position, and the difference when the Brazilian came on and asserted himself in the box was profound. Confidence surely plays a part here, because this barren spell must weigh on the mind of the Spaniard, but the team needs goals now, and can’t rely on 1-0 victories against promoted teams for the whole season (not least because we’ve played all three of them in a row!) Frustrating too was Iwobi - when his creative juices aren’t flowing, as seen in rather ugly fashion today, his lack of pure pace and goal contributions really sticks out. He may consider himself fortunate Robinson had such a hideous afternoon, barely able to control the ball and lucky his careless defending only yielded a yellow card for the afternoon. With Sessegnon suspended this cannot be the average afternoon from our starting left-back.
I think the midfield situation is healthy - Larsson, whilst not fully synchronised with the rest of the team, wasn’t a bad deputy for Berge, who eventually came on with greater energy and helped steer the game our way with a bit of zest. Charles is clearly the main man in that department though - he was everywhere again today, and Arbeloa has hopefully realised he needs to stay on the pitch to keep us in swing throughout the action. Cairney’s late cameos can hopefully continue, but Palacios may be back into the action soon - the Spaniard showed more control than Iwobi managed, and should be given another chance to start.
The clean sheet is surely the product of the blossoming Bassey-Affengruber partnership, both of whom seem confident on the ball, solid in the challenge and communicative around the defence. They’ve protected Leno well, and have formed a solid base to take into the tougher fixtures coming up. Whilst I would still instinctively pick Tete over Castagne the Belgian has been dependable in recent games, and certainly not the weakest link at the back - sadly that is currently the aforementioned Robinson, who needs a regular left-back (not Sess!) to challenge his position and hopefully up his game. Teams with more quality than our recent opponents will not hesitate to pounce on his shortcomings.
A Frank day for Coventry
A word or two on Coventry - I thought they showed spirit, and were far less haphazard than we might have expected at the start of the season, but didn’t have the quality to make the most of their spells in stronger positions in the game, and ultimately found themselves chasing the ball in the critical ending stages today. Rudoni had some polish but the players around him couldn’t turn the ball into anything dangerous, with strikers Cherif and Awoniyi both failing to disturb the centre-backs or Leno with anything serious. It meant that the good work achieved with the pressing and forward runs amounted to very little, because the ball kept being squandered and Fulham let off from tricky defensive positions.
Defensively Coventry were decent, though how much of that was our own tepidness is another question. I do think Lampard has organised the team well, and is likely struggling with the age-old difficulty of a transition from the Championship to the Premier League. It’s not an enviable place to find yourself, as any Fulham fan can attest to! Van Ewijk was a nice watch, and had Thomas stayed on the pitch perhaps he and Pinnock would have sat on Muniz to greater effect, nullifying the late energy we mustered up. Lampard will have to answer those what-ifs in the relegation battle likely to envelop his club across the season.
Of course, Fulham are out of the zone for now and sit on 8 points in the happy comforts of mid-table. It is far too early and too presumptuous to start reigniting our aspirational conversations of European adventures, because the team are yet to beat a side in the league that played top flight football last season and two nervy 1-0 wins don’t solve the litany of issues around the club right now. However, the psychological boost cannot be ignored - we have six points out of six, we’ve lost one game in the last five and we have a squad that has finally managed to taste victory, after spending months without one. If Arbeloa is to manage us to any amount of positivity it is these things that must be captured for the side - we can seldom afford any more time languishing around the foot of the Premier League.