Player Ratings: Fulham 3-1 Middlesbrough

Here are the ratings after Fulham put themselves into the fourth round.

This had all the hallmarks of the proverbial banana skin cup tie; a rotated XI from Fulham, against a side second in the Championship, with strong travelling support. After the first 45 minutes it felt like we had trodden right on it and were slipping out. I thought ‘Boro were really impressive, putting together some lovely passages of play and probably could have had more than a goal advantage.

However, Marco threw on the big guns and the game changed completely. A trademark goal and an even better assist from Harry Wilson, either side of a goal from Emile Smith Rowe made the scoreline look very comfortable, even if that doesn’t tell the whole story. Some players strengthened their claims for starting berths, others did not… Regardless, we’re into the fourth round and with Premier League teams already being dumped out, an opportunity once again opens up for Fulham.

Benjamin Lecomte

Made a really good save from point blank range early on to keep things at 0-0 and I don’t think there’s much he can do about the goal. What I find most interesting about Lecomte is his distribution. He’s very comfortable with his feet and plays some very ambitious passes, which largely worked well, but sometimes they felt like hospital passes, putting pressure on his own teammates to get out of a difficult scenario. 6.5/10

Timothy Castagne

After a good performance midweek, I thought today was a bit more of what I’ve come to expect from Timmy, which was just a bit underwhelming. He was mostly fine, but I just feel like he’s rarely positioned where you want him to be. Either he’s too deep when we have the ball, or too high when we don’t have it. His lack of pace concerns me as well, especially when 34-year old Luke Ayling breezed past him like he wasn’t there. I didn’t think he was bad, I just didn’t think he was that good. 6/10

Issa Diop

Pretty composed performance again from Issa. Had to do a fair amount of defending in that first half and did well. Having watched back the highlights, he’s probably lucky that Hayden Hackney scores his opportunity as he hauls down Tommy Conway in the middle and it’s definitely a penalty. Other than that, he continues to show that he is a Premier League quality centre-back and I love that. 6.5/10

Jorge Cuenca

I really enjoy watching him. He’s a genre of central defender that I love; languid yet still physical, and really comfortable on the ball. Very nearly got himself a goal, but it was his defensive work that impressed me once again, including one superb tackle to prevent a good opportunity. Bassey should find it difficult to earn his spot back. 7/10

Ryan Sessegnon

A tough one for Sess. He obviously gets totally skinned by Silvera for the opening goal but in general he struggled to lock down the combination of Whittaker and Silvera down that flank. Not one to worry about, given how good he was when he came on against Chelsea and because he’s still returning to full fitness, just certainly wasn’t his finest performance of the season. 5/10

Harrison Reed

Wonderful to see Harrison get the captain’s armband. He did ok in the middle of the park, tasked with being that box-to-box midfielder, trying his best to get Fulham ticking. He couldn’t quite have the impact he wanted and the introduction of TC made a big difference to the game. 6/10

Sasa Lukic

Like most of the team, he wasn’t really at it in the first half. After the break though, he was much more involved. TC sat a bit deeper and dictated play and it allowed Sasa to make bursting runs forward, snap into challenges, and just be more involved in general. 7/10

Adama Traore

Player number one who did himself no favours today. I don’t support pile-ons, abuse, booing etc. but Jesus wept…

He actually did some good work a couple of times, getting past his man and putting decent crosses into the box. Outside of this it was infuriating to watch. He slowed down nearly every attack that he was involved in, seemingly forgetting that he was allowed to pass the ball, choosing instead to hog it as much as possible. He managed to get worse in the second half, misplacing simple passes before being jeered off (I don’t like it when we do this, he’s still a Fulham player) by the home fans. I actually feel bad for him, I simply think a new pasture for Adama would benefit all parties, because it isn’t working anymore. 3/10

Emile Smith Rowe

He’s playing his best football in years, as well as his most, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I wanted more from him, as the senior player in that attacking line in the first half, but he struggled to get on the ball. Once his proper mates joined him on the pitch however, he was much more influential. Picking it up in lovely pockets and driving towards goal. His turn and finish was clinical, taking him to five goals this season, great to see 7.5/10

Kevin

Kevin!!! (I’m grinning as I come to this section of the ratings) A goal - he has finally got a goal! Most importantly, he deserved it. Again, the first half was concerning, but in the second half he started to really fizz. I could see the terror in Alan Browne’s eyes every time he got isolated one-on-one. He so nearly got his goal earlier on and after it agonisingly flew wide, the poor lad looked so dejected. We’ve spoken at length at how he needs a confidence boost, so an influential performance against our West London rivals and a goal in the cup could prove to be a huge sliding doors moment in his Fulham career. 7.5/10

Jonah Kusi-Asare

I was really intrigued to see a proper opportunity for Jonah to show what he can do. Unfortunately, he won’t feel like he made the most of his start. There were moments, brief moments, where I saw a player. A couple of good runs, including a good leap (but tame header) in the first half, as well as some decent hold-up play. Other than those moments, I saw a lad who isn’t quite ready for the big time, and maybe I, and others, should apologise to Marco for berating his reluctance to play him. He looked a bit lost with the ball bouncing off him, loose passes, it wasn’t great. I still can absolutely see that he has the potential but right now, he’s a long way off it. 5.5/10

Substitutes

Harry Wilson

This felt so much like when your older brother sees you’re losing on the Playstation. He tells you not to worry, takes the controller off you and proceeds to slap up your opponent. It’s criminal the amount of time he had to slot home the equaliser, but it doesn’t make it any less impressive. The assist could have a whole article of its own. My entire social feed is filled with football fans drooling over the outside of the boot ball, and quite rightly, it’s obscene. A very important, game changing cameo. What a player. 9/10 - man of the match

Tom Cairney

I’m obviously delighted they didn’t, but if Wrexham had managed to sign TC in the summer, they might have been top of the Championship. He made it looks so easy against second in that league, cruising about midfield and swinging the game our way. His assist for ESR’s goal is very cute, sliding it through the only gap in that backline. What a lovely renaissance. Also wonderful to see him shove Kevin in front of the Hammersmith End to soak up the adulation after his goal. Mr. Fulham. 8/10

Raul Jimenez

Showed his class once again; he’s the perfect role model for Kusi-Asare. He came on and provided a perfect focal point for us to work around. He isn't full of goals, but he facilitates so much, that when he’s not on the pitch, you really notice how much less threatening we look. 7/10

Antonee Robinson

After being upstaged by Sess midweek, I think Jedi returned the favour today. We felt more solid at the back and he had more threat going forward. Nearly got a goal, but he is unfortunately dreadful at shooting. Had a classic Jedi run towards the end, winning the ball in our defensive third and leaving everyone in the dust. Blessed to have him and Ryan in the same squad. 7/10

Sander Berge came on too late to warrant a rating.

Marco Silva/Goncalo Santos

Marco serving his touchline ban in the third round of the cup felt like when players get suspended so they can go home for Christmas. It presented a fun opportunity for his deputy to run things from the sidelines, presumably with Marco in his ear the whole time.

The team needed to be rotated, so I can’t criticise that, it’s just that some players did not perform to the necessary standard. We were outclassed in that first half, so credit to the leadership for making the changes that early, as I’m sure they were reticent to put more minutes into legs. To me, the subs were proof that we’re up for the cup, and they swung the game completely. It’s job done, which was the main aim, but also in 90 minutes, which was really important. Onto the fourth round! 7.5/10