Fulham concede after 16 seconds in Ipswich defeat

Fulham 1 Ipswich Town 2

Fulham conceded after just 16 seconds as they slipped to their fourth home defeat of the campaign.

Stuart Gray’s men could hardly have had a worse start, but recovered well to equalise before going behind a second time early in the second half and, this time, there was no comeback.

It extends the Whites’ worrying winless run to seven matches.

The three-man defence looked half asleep and flat-footed straight from the kick-off. Freddie Sears nodded a Darryl Murphy pass into space on halfway, burst past Dan Burn and fired low to keeper Andy Lonergan’s left.

But after almost going 2-0 down, when Arsenal loanee Ainsley Maitland-Niles struck the crossbar with a rasping drive, Ross McCormack drew the Whites level on 14 minutes with their first effort on goal to lift the spirits.

Alex Kacaniklic won a free-kick 25 yards out and McCormack’s gloriously executed strike sent the ball fizzing into the bottom corner beyond the right hand of Town keeper Dean Gerken.

Brett Pitman restored the lead for the visitors on 57 minutes when he ghosted in at the near post to plant a Sears cross into the net via the right-hand post, with Fulham’s defence again all at sea.

A double substitution on 67 minutes helped the Whites up the tempo – Matt Smith almost immediately sending two headers just wide and Emerson Hyndman injecting more verve in midfield.

But there were no clear-cut chances to alter an all-too familiar outcome.

Fulham: Lonergan; Stearman, Burn, Ream; Richards, Kacaniklic (Woodrow 76), O’Hara (Hyndman 67), Cairney (Smith 67), Garbutt; McCormack, Dembele.
Subs not used: Lewis, Hutchinson, Fredericks, Pringle.