Player Ratings: Fulham 1-0 Leeds United

Last-gasp drama saves Silva and brings joy at Craven Cottage.

It was an admittedly underwhelming afternoon at the Cottage with a sub-par attacking display from Fulham, however the Whites emerged victorious thanks to a powerful Leeds own goal as Gabriel Gudmundsson’s header put even the great Aleksander Mitrovic to shame. But in this game, we had to take the three points by hook or by crook and that’s exactly what we’ve done. Let’s analyse how our players performed in this gritty game.

Bernd Leno

So reliable and consistent, Leno stood up to every test he was faced with today and pulled off a couple of good saves alongside expected ones to control the game. 7.5/10

Kenny Tete

Absolutely brilliant today and more than justified his starting position over Timothy Castagne. On top of exuding strength and ultra-reliability, Tete made a match-saving tackle from behind to deny the Leeds forward a clear strike on goal in the Fulham box. He was also brave in another moment, winning the ball and then taking on two opposition players on the wing and beating them both until he got inevitably brought down to stop our counter attack. Textbook Tete today. 7.5/10

Joachim Andersen

Leading the side out as Captain today, while the dry display of the first hour was a bore for neutrals, for the fan of a strong defense it was great outing. Today Joachim took the reins from Bassey a little more and was heavily involved on and off the ball, with 111 touches, including 24 passes into the opposition’s final third, three tackles and eight clearances as well as his usual dynamic long-passes. It’s been discussed a little where the leadership lies in this Fulham squad, and today Andersen proved that he can be that strong example to the rest of the team. He’s come under a fair amount of scrutiny since his return to Fulham, so today deserves all of the plaudits. 8/10 - man of the match

Calvin Bassey

Ever dynamic and reliable, Bassey was a solid unit in the heart of the Fulham defense and it’s great to see him get that clean sheet. Dispossessed a couple of times on the ball, but also drew a couple of free kicks breaking out of defence. 7/10

Ryan Sessegnon

It was the same old story with today. Defensively he leaves a lot to be desired, there were a couple of moments being caught out in possession and giving away unnecessary fouls today. Going forward he was good and made an excellent headed flick on to Lukic to almost set up a great goal. Perhaps it is unfair to naturally compare him to Robinson, but you can really see the difference. With our influx of new wingers up top, I wonder what Ryan’s role and playing time will be when Antonee returns. 6/10

Sander Berge

Shepherding the ball from defence to attack, Berge’s 94% passing accuracy proves his reliability in high-pressure areas, and his apt curled cross from deep to set-up Muniz for his one chance on goal showed excellent vision. Did well protecting the defence. 6.5/10

Sasa Lukic

Uncharacteristically, Lukic had the least amount of touches out of any player on the pitch today despite playing the full ninety, but as always put’s a shift and a half in, with ultra-reliable passing accuracy and breakdown of play in the middle of the pitch. Nearly won the game for Fulham, had he had made a cleaner contact with the attempted scissor kick from Sess’s excellent flick-on. 6/10

Josh King

After his cruelly chalked off goal against our SW6 rivals in our last outing, we were all routing for Josh to come back with a fire in his belly ready to set the record straight. Today, Leeds’ well-organised defensive structure meant that our overall creativity was mostly hindered particularly for the first hour, and for all the energy King provided, there wasn’t too much end product today. I do wonder if we miss Andreas’s physicality in the middle. 6/10

Harry Wilson

A portion of blame for a lack of creativity has to be passed onto our playmakers, and Wilson was guilty of drifting out of this game akin to Brighton away. His beautiful free kick that forced Darlow into a diving save to tip his shot over the bar was a real highlight, perhaps we can blame the international break for the energy levels. Got stuck in off the ball and won back possession on three occasions, just wanted a little more action on the ball. 6.5/10

Alex Iwobi

It was one of those games for Iwobi today. I’m all for crediting Leeds for their excellent defense, however Alex didn’t register a single shot or create one chance today. He had a slightly higher defensive involvement than usual and perhaps that draws back to having Sess behind him over Robinson who offers much more athleticism. 6/10

Rodrigo Muniz

Good showing from Muniz who wasn’t given too much to play with up top. He consistently drew the opposition into fouls with physical confrontations all over the pitch, and his one chance was headed goalward but comfortably saved. Would Raul have provided more movement and link play? I think we need to stay patient with this one. 7/10

Substitutes

Emile Smith Rowe 60’ (Subbed on for Josh King)

Once again ESR looked like he could be the key to unlocking the opposition’s defence today with some great play, which included a chance to win the game with an astute strike inside the box at a tight angle to force the keeper to tip it onto the post. Incredible to see Emile being kept out of the starting line up by Josh King but if it keep both of them at the top of their game then long may it last. 7/10

Adama Traore 60’ (Subbed on for Harry Wilson)

Adama hasn’t taken off this season with the same impact as last year. You could see him trying to be dynamic, but often it led to a mis-placed cross, pass or dispossession. This didn’t feel like the game for him to make something happen with a well-organised Leeds defense. 5.5/10

Kevin 75’ (Subbed on for Alex Iwobi)

It was the moment we’d all been waiting for. The record-signing answer to our transfer window woes, and he didn’t disappoint. Dynamic, skillful and pacey, Kevin had an aura about him that everything he touched turned to gold. A massive reason for Fulham Fans to get excited! His slick wing-play and confidence was undeniably impressive and his strike from outside of the box that forced Karl Darlow into a diving save to tip the curling shot over the bar gave fans a window to see how lethal our new Brazilian winger is. Pumped. 7.5/10

Tom Cairney (On for Sander Berge) Raul Jiménez 84’ (On for Rodrigo Muniz)

Neither were on the pitch long enough to have an impact worth rating. Raul threw himself around a lot to little success and Cairney linked a couple of passages of play.

Marco Silva

If I'm brutally honest, I think Marco Silva was saved a lot of questions today with a colossal stroke of luck at the death. The first 60 minutes was one of the most un-creative displays I’ve seen as we failed to register a single shot in the first half, which is poor considering our opposition, despite their good defensive record. The substitutions he made were very encouraging and Kevin and ESR worked wonders to apply the pressure until Leeds ultimately cracked. After seeing displays such as Southampton and Ipswich at home last season, this was very much set to go the same way with lessons not learned. But we absolutely deserve a stroke of good luck and we’ll take it and lay credit to Silva for the increased pressure he applied with the changes and intensity we eventually displayed. 6/10