Jimenez penalty gives Fulham three points for Christmas

Nottingham Forest beaten 1-0 in second straight league win for Silva’s men

Who needs Father Christmas when you have Raul Jimenez? He and his teammates have taken Fulham to an important three points at Craven Cottage tonight, his penalty producing a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. It wasn’t the prettiest football you’ll ever see, but few will care - the relegation worries felt at points this season have alleviated somewhat, and whilst the margins are a little tight a solid defensive performance kept Forest from being able to mount a comeback, and has consolidated our place in the far-more familiar setting of the Premier League’s midtable. Even in its narrowest form, a win takes the pain of a cup exit away; there’s plenty for us to be pleased about tonight.

First Half

Christmas is almost upon us, and it had a dulling effect on the first moments of football. Most of the first half was spent in the doldrums, both sides struggling to turn their possession into a serious chance. In truth, it was Fulham who suffered more from this initially, stuck in ponderous patterns and moving timidly around Forest’s energetic pressing. Arguably injury delays were the biggest headline of the opening phase; Kevin bundled into Berge’s legs during one defensive spell, hurting his head, and Andersen’s defensive duties led to a gnarly dislocated finger.

Iwobi’s international action has removed one of the smoothest cogs in the Fulham machine; Lukic and Berge lack his vision and guile, which made our central territory sterile at times. The return of Robinson meant our biggest threat was down the left, through the American and Kevin’s speed with Smith-Rowe’s nifty movement - but Robinson’s rustiness showed early on, wayward with his passing and inviting danger around the back. A well-timed Andersen slide tackle stopped one wasteful pass leading to Igor Jesus turning and shooting in the box.

Indeed, Forest looked the more tenacious side at times. Luiz and Anderson provided versatility, Gibbs-White wrestled his way around the pitch in search of the ball, Williams overlapped with Hudson-Odoi to attack Forest and Hutchinson had a magnetic attraction to the space Robinson left on his flank. Despite seeing less of the ball, they had an energy on it that bettered ours, requiring serious defensive interventions for Cuenca and Andersen. Thankfully, our centre-backs were attuned to the danger - after a dangerous set of attacks early on they limited Igor’s touches in the box, and pushed their shots to the fringe of the box. Douglas Luiz blasted a long-shot well off-target but for all Gibbs-White’s industriousness their closest moment for the latter section of the half was a Hutchinson cross Leno flapped at.

What of Fulham, then? It wasn’t pretty for long periods; the team was clearly still acclimatising to our Nigerian absences. Our best moments, where the players’ passing radars were activated and we worked our way around our opponent’s rugged pressing, invariably came through the work on the left, with Robinson trying to reactivate his old form and combining with Kevin. We seemed to stutter and die when we reached the box though, as our decision-making disintegrated. Kevin and Wilson had pacey runs in space, bombing towards the final third, halted by dithering in the key moments - stopped by Savona and the Luiz-Anderson combo respectively. Smith Rowe drove into Forest territory nicely, using Kevin and Robinson to give himself space to create opportunities, yet his teammates couldn’t turn his innovation into success, Kevin wriggling into the box from one such set-up but unable to stop Milenkovic blocking his shot.

But as time went on, and these moments started to compound, we began to find a confidence of old. From Cuenca at the back, a passing move took us into the box via Jimenez and a Kevin lay off that Lukic narrowly planted wide of goal with his shot. Smith Rowe, fully enjoying space away from Douglas Luiz, fed Kevin, who dispatched Robinson ahead of Savona; he lifted it into the box, but Jimenez glanced his header wide.

He had the chance to redeem himself shortly afterwards though - receiving the ball from Leno, the Mexican played a one-two with Lukic against a tough physical challenge from Milenkovic. From another well-placed Smith Rowe pass lay-off, Kevin carried the ball into the box, wriggling away from Savona and Douglas Luiz. The latter stretched his foot to try and stop his compatriot, making contact with him in the process. And from the resulting penalty, after a lengthy delay that saw keeper John Victor booked, Jimenez coolly slotted his penalty into the bottom left of the goal. Fulham had shaken off the lethargy and had a lead to take into the half time break.

Second Half

We’d done well to get into the lead - Forest under Dyche have been a decent outfit, and the combination of graft with their talent around the pitch made it unlikely they would settle down. Their 4-2-3-1, once Fulham had found their gears, was one we could work around with sharp passes, and our play down the left could easily have yielded a few more goals than Jimenez’s lone penalty.

The remedy for Dyche? More intensity. Anderson stepped higher up the pitch, Forest’s forward units turned their own intensity levels up and Fulham’s goal entered their crosshairs to a greater degree. It produced a glut of early chances for Forest as the second half started, refusing to let the hosts settle into an early lead. Igor Jesus, a peripheral figure towards the end of the first half, latched onto a Gibbs-White lofted through ball and outmuscled Andersen and Cuenca as the ball bounced goalwards, but he lifted the ball too high to trouble Leno. Hudson-Odoi continued to speed into action, running down our right and cutting away from Lukic before feeding it to Williams tucked inside - thankfully, his shot curled neatly into Leno’s hands. From the other side, Hutchinson’s eye for a pass continued to ask dangerous questions, crossing the ball into dangerous areas - Gibbs-White may wish to shield his eyes from his offside, hideously off-target bicycle kick from one such act though.

It was a tough opening 15 minutes or so, the ball stuck bouncing around our half and easily making its way into our final third. Berge hauling Gibbs-White down and collecting a booking seemingly forced Silva’s hand - the Norwegian was taken off for Cairney, required to run the midfield for the final thirty minutes. What a change it was though - with Forest storming around, our captain’s composure on the ball soaked up pressure and took the sting out of the game, giving Fulham vital oxygen in a tough situation.

It’s remarkable how often we forget what the benefit of Fulham’s possession play can be. Every second we spend on the ball is one fewer the opposition has to try and score a goal. When said opponent is trailing, having thrown considerable energy earlier in the half to find the equaliser, it increases the stress they feel, generating more careless play and subsequently opening the opportunity up for a forward pass, a dangerous run, a chance at goal. Who better than Tom Cairney to try and advantage this, a student of Marco’s from the Championship days to now? He enjoyed himself too, at one point winning the ball from Anderson in the middle and feeding Wilson; if Kevin had a little more composure - again - he might have taken John Victor on instead of cutting back. The captain had his own chance too - driving forward into space in front of the backline, Cairney fired a shot at the goal, bobbling just wide following a palm away from the keeper.

Dyche didn’t like what he was saying, and put his own changes on, a triple substitution with Awoniyi, Dominguez and McAtee on for Jesus, Gibbs-White and Luiz. It put more energy on the pitch for the visitors, and certainly achieved a reversal in where the play was centred, granting possession back to Forest more frequently. But it also removed the combined danger of Jesus and Gibbs-White from the heart of our defence, lessening the burden our two centre-backs had to face. Whilst plenty of crosses could be swung in - Forest had a plethora of options willing to take them - Awoniyi couldn’t match the presence of his predecessor, and McAtee didn’t have the ferocity to claw himself into battle.

Indeed, Fulham were starting to enjoy the contest. King arrived for Kevin and started to carry the ball forward, eating time and life out of Forest’s game. Following a corner (narrowly missed by Milenkovic) the young starlet combined nicely with Tete down the right to unpiece Forest’s defence and whip a brilliant cross into the box. The move unpieced the defence, leaving substitute Zinchenko behind, dragging Murillo out of position and letting Jimenez bolt ahead of Milenkovic and Williams - his header flashed wide of goal though, depriving him of an assist.

It didn’t matter though - as Dyche continued to tweak his team, already having added Zinchenko for more passing creativity and taking a well-worn Hudson-Odoi off for Kalimuendo, the finish line drew closer for Fulham. When we focus, we can be really effective - Silva put the lesser-spotted Kusi-Asare on with Diop and Traore to add some physical muscle to proceedings, moving into a back five and throwing their own press at Forest to keep their play stagnated. Forest didn’t have the extra edge to break us down - we shut them out of our box, won a few free-kicks (amidst a few we didn’t - King took a bit of a kicking towards the end) and, following some professional catches for Leno from some crosses, took ourselves to the three points.

Never sniff at a 1-0 win…

We’re one of the most deprived teams in the league following AFCON, and we shouldn’t underestimate the loss Bassey, Iwobi and Chukwueze represent for our team. Therefore, there should be some lenience for the dull start - the team kicked into gear, did enough to eke out the margins and claim the victory. A penalty shouldn’t be sniffed at - perhaps Kevin et al should have taken a chance from open play, but then perhaps Douglas Luiz shouldn’t have fouled him in the box? Such moments, as demonstrated today, can make the difference today, and when you stop your opponent from scoring they can win three points that may well prove decisive in May.

On the topic of the penalty, let’s give some praise to Raul Jimenez. The man will have become the dictionary definition for haggard by the time Muniz returns, but his effort cannot be faulted, and he continues to excel even through this exhausted state of existence. 11 out of 11 penalties, level with 2010s icon Yaya Toure as holder of the most spot-kicks taken at a 100% rate, is no easy feat. Trickier, and harder to spot, is the work he does around the pitch, taking individual touches to set his teammates down the attacking channels, or linking play together from unexpected positions. What a shift he’s doing - let’s hope his Christmas is a particularly restful one.

He had the finishing touch that his teammates didn’t, but it isn’t all gloom for them. Kevin is the easy target of criticism, and it is frustrating to see him struggle in the box so much, but with time he can get to the killer instinct other attackers have had. The pace and inventiveness is really encouraging, and if he can get a run of games building chemistry with Robinson - who is already growing back into his best form - the goal returns will start to flow. Wilson was quieter on the right and seemed to attract more attention from Forest’s defenders over the course of the game - it makes the moves of Smith Rowe feel even smarter, the erstwhile Arsenal man moving to the left to create play. He’s risen to the challenge of King really nicely, and long may it continue. From King’s cameo, it’ll be clear both want the limelight going forward!

Berge has enjoyed stronger games in the middle and will back himself to be more attuned to players like Gibbs-White in the future. Lukic started slowly but got himself involved in several impressive passing sequences around the pitch, and worked really nicely with Cairney towards the end of the game, encouraging for his own role over the next few weeks. Cairney’s wisdom and experience on the ball arrived at a critical juncture to guide Fulham through the second half; he’s blown hot and cold, but today demonstrated his value to the team.

The result of this meant that our backline earnt a clean sheet, something never to be taken for granted. Andersen had an outstanding game and was delightful across the game, perfect in many a moment with his timing and execution. Cuenca showcased his own talents, and looks set to enjoy himself with Bassey on another continent - his comfort on the ball makes him a natural fit in the team. Robinson has a touch of rustiness to him at times, but he will surely shake it off with time - in the closing moments, he was very sharp to the balls flying around our left. Tete is usually the top dog at the back - whilst Hudson-Odoi and Williams had a lot of fun, by the end of the game it was clear who was in charge. Leno should be pleased too - other than a panicked flap for a cross in the first half, his glovework from a smattering of chances, be it catching long shots or punching corners, were every bit as important as the defensive contributions in front of him.

Forest for the axe?

As for Forest, it’s a Christmas Day they’ll spend looking over their shoulders, particularly at West Ham. I don’t think the 5 point gap they currently enjoy will last - Nuno is a decent coach, and even Parker at Burnley will claw points out of games that keep them competitive over the season. However, it’s hardly the worst situation to be in for Dyche’s men. The centre-backs are good, Luiz and Anderson work brilliantly, Hudson-Odoi and Hutchinson know what to do to get the ball into dangerous areas and with Gibbs-White they have a player willing to fight out the stickier moments in a game.

Playing in Europe does make life a little trickier in terms of fatigue - the team noticeably wilted at points in the game and coasted towards the conclusion. Dyche can work a lot out of players but his teams have never typically been in Europe, giving him an extra quandary. He’ll need more out of his striker Jesus, who couldn’t get enough out of the chances his teammates gave him, and certainly expect his substitutes to match the intensity of the players they replace - I don’t recall McAtee touching the ball once, whereas Gibbs-White seemed to find possession in every attacking move Forest made. Are these problems the manager can fix in time? Should the bottom three (two, really) start to pick things up, these questions may start to get louder.

Questions of a different sort can be asked to Marco Silva, though. With two wins on the bounce, and a couple of competitive trips away from home before the tougher fixtures return, can Fulham pick up some points over Christmas and try and climb up the league table? It feels a lot, of course, especially with the troubles of the season still fairly fresh in the mind and absences, injuries, AFCON or otherwise, taking their toll on the squad. But hope lives on for Fulham, and with Silva’s team still able to piece together tight victories like today, there will always be part of me that pieces together a route to the upper reaches of the table. And if anything, we will spend our Christmas Day knowing a healthy gap sits between us and the despondency the three teams from 18th down have on their minds.