Captain Cairney earns a point at Palace

Fulham extend unbeaten run with first league draw since August

Happy New Year! It’s 2026, and Fulham extend their unbeaten run by ending their losing streak against Crystal Palace, in a competitive 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park. An unfortunate injury for Cuenca gave Palace the opportunity to capitalise on a temporary disadvantage in the first half, before Tom Cairney emerged from the bench in the second to equalise with a stunning finish. Both sides had a great array of chances, and Fulham could easily have pinched it at the end, but there’s plenty to be pleased about with the draw, and it keeps us neatly tucked inside the top half of the table for the time being.

First Half

There are a few players missing from both these teams at the moment, and it had a dampening effect on the football initially, both teams trying to shake off their New Year’s stupor. We’ve had our concerns with the injuries and AFCON absences over the season but it’s worth remembering other teams face similar situations, and Glasner’s side have absences in all departments. This contributed to the slightly stronger start we had, Smith Rowe and Lukic from deeper positions seizing the early initiative to dribble at the defence and work the team into threatening areas. Palace, as we discovered a few weeks ago, are a hard side to break, and Kevin and Raul found the crosses from these moves easily dealt with.

Whilst the 3-4-2-1 Palace played lacked some of the speed Munoz, Sarr and Nketiah lavish around their attack, utilising Pino and Devenny gave them passing options in tricky positions for our defence. Cuenca, previously a reliable figure in Bassey’s absence, picked up an early booking for tripping Devenny - it unnerved him, in turn heightening the timidity in tighter moments around our final third. A long throw demonstrated these nerves - Lerma’s ball in bobbled about before Wharton headed it forward in the box and Lacroix’s cross had to be tipped over by Leno.

Fulham are a side that know how to work the ball, and our stronger moments in the half came during a decent spell in possession in the middle of the period. Wilson’s dinked pass over an advanced Palace defence set Kevin through at goal - a tight offside spared his blushes following a tame effort. Smith Rowe, wriggling through the pitch, found the Brazilian next - on the left, Kevin ran past Lerma and a trailing Clyne to put his own ball into a troubling area. Sadly, our finishing let us down - Smith Rowe was ahead of the cross and couldn’t stick his foot back to get it, Wilson’s volley, whilst strong, travelled straight into Henderson’s palms and Jimenez swiped at the rebound and put his effort wide. We looked alright using the left channel, Kevin and Robinson’s pace combining to work us into the box. Again, Smith Rowe was very intelligent in his movement, keeping Hughes and Wharton occupied and pulling them away from his teammates. One such move produced chances for Lukic and Tete - but Guehi’s block and Tete’s volley flying narrowly over kept the scores level.

You can’t waste chances against a side as physically gifted as Crystal Palace though; after riding the storm they put the game back in our half by moving their defenders into midfield. Guehi stepped forward to compound Palace’s presence in our half - it produced a Mitchell cross that pinballed around between Devenny and Mateta before falling to Guehi, whose shot forcing a low save from Leno. A VAR reprieve for Lukic’s trip on Hughes and Pino narrowly bending an effort outside the box wide seemed to mark the end of the danger… but never underestimate Fulham’s ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

Cuenca had been pestered by the movement of Palace’s frontline and a stray arm from Devenny caught him in the face, felling the Spaniard. Refereeing protocols mandate his temporary removal from play - in doing so, it withdrew a man from Fulham’s backline, forcing us further back. And here, Palace struck their blow - Lerma, out of the backline and free to use the ball, found Clyne on the right. A clever touch bypassed our humbled left back and let him dribble toward the box, before lifting the ball into the path of Mateta, who jumped well away from Tete to guide a header downwards and under Leno for 1-0.

The goal certainly livened up the last few minutes of the half. For Palace, it sparked some attacking confidence - they hadn’t been poor, but the sluggishness in some of their final moves seemed to clear for a moment or two as they sought to double their advantage. Mitchell was ferocious, wide on the left and drilling balls into the box, and Andersen was unfortunate not to have his poor touch punished by Pino. The Spaniard had another play fly perilously close through a cross that swung just off-target. Then, Fulham threw the play back to the other end - a Robinson long throw was narrowly cleared by Mateta, the ball fell to a well-placed Kevin on the edge of the box, his shot needed the lofted arms of Henderson to prevent a goal and Wilson’s quick journey to the loose ball also required a sliding block from Lacroix to block the volley from close range. Incredibly, the action wasn’t over - Henderson’s goal kick took the ball back to Fulham’s end, and through Hughes and Devenny Pino had yet another shot at goal - this time Andersen was focused and was well placed to stop the shot reaching Leno.

Second Half

Such a frenetic end to the half distracted from the fact that Fulham, not for the first time, trailed in a game through their own wayward game management. Whilst the promise was there, indecisiveness in defence had let Palace’s attackers fox around in troubling positions, causing danger in seemingly sterile positions. It cost us Tete - Mateta haring down on the right-back let him steal the ball deep in our final third, and the physicality of the challenge forced Silva to swap him for Castagne (as well as a yellow card for Andersen’s protestations). As always, there’s no replacing the Dutchman in this squad - Palace’s attackers were happy to drift to the left to exploit the Belgian’s weaker stature at the back, combining with Mitchell to work the ball into danger. A clever cross from Mitchell saw a first-time strike from Devenny need blocking by Berge, and some diligent pressing from Palace forced a mistake from Castagne and almost produced a one-on-one against Leno.

It was frustrating viewing at times. Glasner’s team work fluidly as a defensive unit, the wingbacks dropping back to make a line of five, Wharton and Hughes patrolling the space in front of them (with a centre-back making a well-timed intervention by stepping out of the backline from time to time), too many bodies stacked around the box to easily play the ball into a shooting position. We toiled for time in their final third, and it was not uncommon for Palace to watch a string of passes, pinch the ball off us and surge at our goal.

However, there was looming danger for the hosts. Hughes, versatile and rigorous in midfield, was withdrawn following a knock in the first half - whilst Canvot is a decent young player, and Lerma moving into midfield was hardly a poor option, it offset the ease at which Palace abated pressure. This was important - Palace are a side that have played a significant number of games this season, travelling around Europe in addition to a cup run and all with a depleted squad. Fatigue can prove the difference in the tighter moments - what had previously been territory locked-down opened up for Jimenez, ready in the box once Kevin and Robinson combined to let the American lift the ball into danger - his header bounced off the floor, over Henderson but off the post and wide.

Enter Tom Cairney, off for a mediocre Berge. We often wonder what our captain can bring to the Premier League, and watching him tonight demonstrated once again how delightful the man can be in a Fulham shirt. Operating deeper than the attacking players, a creator further back from Palace’s impervious backline, he started pulling the strings and unravelling the structure of the defence before him. We’d seen promise from Kevin and good deliveries from Robinson on the left, but Cairney brought into play more of the team, giving more for Castagne and the uncharacteristically quiet Wilson to throw at Palace’s left.

There were still scares for Fulham, of course. Wharton flexed his creative skills to pick Mitchell out with a long diagonal ball into our final third, forcing Castagne to knock it out for a corner. Pino’s delivery was met by a mistimed header from Robinson, a desperate push off the line by Leno and Lacroix’s header being blocked only by his teammate Guehi’s unfortunate placing. Once again, defensive lapses threatened to wreck our chance of fighting back in the game.

It was a good fightback too. Smith Rowe continued to pop up in nifty areas. He fed the ball to Robinson, whose cross should have been met with a stronger header from Castagne - Henderson instead had a comfortable save. Jimenez, puffing through another game, received service from the American too - he couldn’t beat the block though, and the chance fell away, as did Smith Rowe’s own shot that cannoned into Lacroix. Would there be a winner?

Our captain made sure of it. Robinson, again brilliantly operating on the left, varied his approach by cutting inside and finding Lukic. The midfielder adjusted his angle and laid the ball off to Cairney on the edge of the box - with a touch to lift the ball into the air, he guided his volley to the left of the goal, away from Henderson’s hopeful dive, to level the scores. It was a brilliant goal, one of many scored by the captain over the last decade with us, and was met with a spirited celebration to match.

Just like in the first half, the goal seemed to throw things into disarray. Palace, irked by losing their clean sheet, introduced Esse and Uche to throw some pace into the mix. Cuenca needed a well-timed intervention to stop Uche blasting into the box for a chance. But Silva had a plan. We withdrew widemen Wilson and Kevin for Reed and Traore, offering a bit of physical graft to try and absorb the added threat. It let us consolidate, keeping Fulham on the ball - thus starving Palace’s speedy players from breaking into our half.

And with Fulham on the ball, the chances kept coming. We had two golden opportunities to win the game, created through our vision and patience on the ball. On the right, Reed placed a ball for Jimenez to collect, chesting it down and feeding Cairney. The captain couldn’t quite thread it back to him but, via Lerma’s deflection, the ball fell kindly for Castagne, unopposed in front of goal. He could have put his shot anywhere - his attempt was within Henderson’s reach and the keeper whipped his hand up to save it. There wasn’t time to rue it - Uche won another corner for Palace that needed dealing with. Yet unbelievably, it was Fulham’s corner from the resulting counter-attack, led by Traore and won by Castagne, that produced the match-winning chance. After Mateta cleared the first one Cairney, Reed’s second was knocked on by Jimenez, miscued by Canvot and fell directly to Andersen in the six-yard box… who lashed the ball into the skies for a goal kick, all but confirming the game would end a draw.

A Fightback from Fulham

There’s plenty to be proud about from a Fulham perspective. From a frustrating setback, the team rallied, sharpened their focus, got themselves into goal-scoring positions and turned another Palace defeat into narrowly missing out on a fourth straight victory. I think Cairney deserves the plaudits - his left foot has a diamond-like quality that can lead us to great moments, and it proved the difference amongst a gallery of off-target efforts. He was the piece that pushed the other good components of the play into a goal-producing moment.

Kevin can be a hair-pulling watch but his chemistry with Robinson was a very important part of our play, and delivered several killer balls into the box - he just needs to break the duck, and his confidence in the final third will grow massively. Smith Rowe is getting used to his runs and trickery, because he was attuned to the work being done on the left throughout the game, and sculpted many fine moments on the ball in that department; more notably, he completed his first 90 minutes for Fulham tonight. Lukic had a decent game today too, and has an assist as reward for getting himself forward a little more. Wilson was quieter, probably feeling the burn of playing so many games in a row - for Jimenez, this is par for the course.

Perhaps defensively there needs to be a conversation about our RB cover - when Tete is absent, things fall apart for us there. Castagne is, at a push, a RWB - he can’t be trusted in this system to maintain the flank like Tete can, and should we find ourselves relying on him to do so opponents perk their noses up to it. Cuenca demonstrated what the advantages of Bassey are - whilst he grew into the second half, Bassey is the player with the physical advantages to avoid being downed by a player like Devenny. Andersen’s late miss puts a blot on an otherwise decent evening in defence - as a leader at the back, he’s critical for our team. Robinson, meanwhile, needs to hone his defensive radar - the man is brilliant going forward, but if Clyne can take the American out of a game like he did for Mateta’s goal, other players will feel they can manage similar.

Problems for Palace?

What of Palace, then? Glasner needs his team to dive into their energy reserves, because the fixtures won’t be easing up any time soon and Palace’s physical dominance is proving beatable over 90 minutes at the moment. You can compare the performance over the two fixtures we’ve just played against them - one, Palace fought hard and clawed a win out of a late corner, the other, Palace wilted in the second half and were only spared from defeat through Castagne and Andersen’s wasted opportunities.

They need more pace in attack to get the best out of Mateta. Devenny and Pino did well with the game in the state it was, but neither managed to actually score a goal and their withdrawal probably needed to happen a lot earlier. Compare what Kevin and Robinson did on our left for what Mitchell had in Palace colours, and you feel there’s a missed opportunity for Glasner’s side to add to their attacks (not least against Castagne!) Defensively they’re still very proficient, even when Munoz and Richards can’t play, but without the fluidity and functionality going forward, they invite the pressure onto themselves in the latter stages of the game. You can’t rely on physicality forever, even when Guehi and Lacroix and Wharton all wear your shirt, and it only takes a cool hand like Cairney to turn the screw and rupture the fort.

What a treat that he plays us for us then! Despite missing out on two points I am happy with a draw against this Palace team. Four games unbeaten is not to be sniffed at in the Premier League, especially when the run includes trips to decent teams like Glasner has built here. We’re missing homegrown talents King and Sessegnon to injury, the Nigerian contingent are on another continent, Jimenez is still staggering through games as Muniz’ deputy and now Tete is due a trip to the medic, but Fulham keep going, and we should be deeply proud of the work Silva has done with the team to turn around the sorrier times from earlier in the campaign. Not a bad start to the year!