Fulham vs. Bristol City

Fulham is back at it with Bristol City on Saturday, but this time at Craven Cottage. The 10am EST match will only be available on FFCTV.

Fulham's "B" squad was about even with a fairly strong Bristol City lineup in last weekend's FA Cup match. Once the A-Team was on, Fulham looked entirely in control through extra time. The lineups on Saturday should look more like how the last match ended than how it started.

When they faced-off earlier this season, it ended in a frustrating draw for Fulham after Bristol City was awarded a goal that clearly should have been called offside along with Fulham hitting the woodwork a couple times. Chalobah and Onomah got starts in that match but were pulled at half time in favor of Reed and Kebano who did much better. Carvalho was not available for that match either. Although he's been flat the past couple matches, I'd still like to see him get a start in this one and keep the same lineup we saw against Reading.

Fulham hasn't managed a win against Bristol City at Craven Cottage in a very long time. That run should end on Saturday.

 

This game has been bonkers and there is still another 45 minutes to play! I have no idea what the final score line will be because 5-2 is already ridiculous. It is the first time this season Fulham has come back from a losing position to a winning position. It is Mitrovic's second first-half hat trick this season. It is the most goals Fulham has given up in the first half this season (second most goals given up in an entire match) but it is also the most goals Fulham has scored in the first half this season.

And in case you were wondering, the match got off to a later start because of an issue with power to the floodlights.

 

When I checked the score it was 1-1. I was shocked to see the final score line.

 

We get lucky! Bristol City is one of those clubs that posts longer highlights on YouTube (and it is 8 goals!):


The start of this one filled me with dread. Bristol City seem to have come prepared to take advantage of Fulham pushing their central defense forward on corners. The front line for Bristol City took off after that corner and Fulham was slow to react. It still to a great finish from Semenyo to get the goal but it was clear Bristol had seen an opportunity and took advantage of it. Given Fulham's terrible record when playing from behind, I thought I was in for a disappointing game. These feelings only worsened when Mitrovic missed an open header from the six yard box and when Carvalho and Mitrovic got a little frustrated with each other when trying to link up in the box. It seemed like it was going to be one of those days.

And then Mitrovic scored on one of the best placed headers since Odoi put Fulham through against Derby to the playoff final. With so much time left it felt like anyone's game at that point.

When Bristol got their second goal I wasn't as concerned. It came off of a fortunate deflection that put Ream and Tosin in a bad spot (although they both made decisions that didn't do them any favors) so it wasn't like Bristol was controlling the game, but they did take advantage of another opportunity.

When Kebano got the equalizer so quickly it felt like this might be Fulham's day. Then Fulham got a break when Bristol was not awarded a PK when Reed took down a guy charging into the box. If the Bristol City player had fallen on this face, rather than trying to continue his run from his knees, I think they would have gotten the penalty. While Bristol was fuming about the non-call, Carvalho sliced through the middle of the defense and put Fulham in front. (EDIT: Upon further reflection, I think the non-PK call may have happened just before Mitrovic's second making it 4-2, not Carvalho's)

Then with Bristol City hoping just to get into halftime with a one goal deficit, Mitrovic crushed any hopes they might have had with two quick goals. Bristol was playing with a different formation and a couple different defensive players from their draw back in September and they just could not figure out how to stop Mitrovic this time. It was crazy how much space Mitrovic was able to make in the box throughout the first half and he made them pay.

The only downside of the day is that Kebano didn't also get a hat trick. Shortly after his second goal that threaded the needle into the roof of the net he had an open shot on goal that was way easier to convert, but somehow he managed to spin it just wide.

I think I liked this game even more than the win against Reading because it was so good to see Fulham finally make a comeback. Hopefully this give the team the belief that they can get a win from any situation.

And here are Fulham's shorter highlights. They did manage to get all eight goals in 2 minutes:

 

@MicahMan Thanks as always for posting highlights, quite enjoyed listening to the Bristol City commentators. My absolute favorite was the color guy extolling the talent of the Semenyo (both his goals were top shelf) ‘we see it regularly at training… Ah Sshhii..’ as Kabano tied it. He stayed professional and didn’t throw in the ‘T’, but it did make me laugh.

25 matches in and we have a +43 GD

 

Well Fulham certainly seem to have fixed the scoring woes that plagued them during their winless streak. I get real-time updates on my phone, and was quite nervous after both of the Bristol City goals. Thankfully Fulham replied quickly to calm those nerves. There are two more matches in this congested period of makeups and Fulham are in a very good place. I’ll be happy with points from them.

@HatterDon , I turned on the Luton Bournemouth match right before Bournemouth leveled it. The finish was frantic and entertaining and the goal that ended it caused me to leap up as if my team had just won. It’s not often that the sport is that exciting but those are the moments that keep me watching.