Fulham crashed to a surprise home defeat – and dropped two places to fifth in the Championship with an unconvincing display at Craven Cottage.
Ivan Cavaleiro’s second-half goal proved to be insufficient in view of earlier goals by Reading duo John Swift and Charlie Adam, with the hard-working Royals’ holding on for three points.
The Whites made three changes from the side which defeated Stoke City 2-1 on 29th December, with injured Tom Cairney and Josh Onomah replaced by Stefan Johansen and Abou Kamara respectively. Alfie Mawson also dropped to the bench with Denis Odoi stepping in. Cairney’s absence consequently proved to be crucial.
Fulham went tantalisingly close to opening the scoring in eight minutes. Reading goalkeeper Rafael Barbosa made an outstanding triple save to deny Aleksandar Mitrovic’s initial angled drive before scooping the ball away from both Johansen and Bobby Decordova-Reid with the help of the post.
And the mid-table Royals – who arrived in west London having not conceded a goal in their last four games – stunned the home crowd by taking the lead in their first proper attack. It was an excellent, deftly constructed 14th minute move, involving Ovie Ejaria and Tyler Blackett on the left, before Swift eased the ball past Whites’ keeper Marek Rodak with the help of a slight deflection by Tim Ream.
Fulham’s troubles continued when midfielder Harrison Reid was forced to limp off just moments later to be replaced by highly-rated 19-year-old Matt O’Riley. But they found Reading to be very well organised and restricting Mitrovic and playmaker Johansen for large periods of the first half.
As it was, events were only to get far worse for Scott Parker’s men shortly after the restart when Reading caught them cold in 48 minutes. Impressive Royals’ playmaker Ejaria outfoxed Cyrus Christie with some intricate skill on the left side of the penalty area before sliding in a low pass for Adam to evade a static Ream and turn home from close range.
The second goal could have signalled the end for Fulham, but to their credit they battled back – and pulled a goal back on the hour. Picking up a pass from Knockaert, and creating room for himself on the edge of the area, Cavaleiro curled a shot low just inside Barbosa’s far post.
Rodak then denied Swift on the counter attack before the Whites’ spirited late rally took shape. The best opportunity fell to Knockaert, who blasted the ball over after Barbosa turned Cavaleiro’s long range shot on to the post. The Brazilian keeper then superbly tipped a Mitrovic header on to the crossbar with the hosts becoming desperate to claw at least a point from the afternoon.
Reading held on, however – and Fulham succumbed to their fourth home defeat of the campaign. A statistic sure to concern Whites manager Parker.
This post was last modified on 01/01/2020