Arsenal Res. 0-1 Fulham Res.
Philippe Christanval returned to action for the Reserves on Wednesday evening as Billy McKinlay’s men beat Arsenal by one goal to nil at Underhill.
Although he was initially scheduled to play 60 minutes against the Gunners, Christanval reported no adverse reactions to his injury and successfully completed the match.
“He was feeling good and looked very comfortable throughout the match in terms of his performance,” said Reserve Team Manager, Billy McKinlay. “There was no reaction to his injury and we got a clean sheet, so it was a good night all-round.”
Following on from their first win of the season against West Ham last week, Fulham started this match in top gear.
The Whites had the home side stretched on a number of occasions, mainly thanks to two exceptional first half performances from wingers Lino Goncalves and Chris James who, as part of a 4-3-3 system, were able to give the Whites good attacking options from the flanks.
Fulham could have opened the scoring within the first minute after Wayne Brown was upended in the Arsenal penalty area. Ismael Ehui stepped up to take the spot kick but he was denied by a good save from Arsenal ‘keeper, Lee Butcher.
The Whites continued to press and their hard work was rewarded on 28 minutes. Ehui, showing no lack on confidence following his saved penalty, applied a clinical finish to a well-worked Fulham move.
Goncalves and Ehui then missed good chances to further extend Fulham’s lead and Elliot Omozusi should have done better with a header from eight yards out.
Whilst the Whites certainly had the better of the first half, they could make no such claim for the second 45 minutes. The home side, clearly desperate to avoid their third defeat of the season, took the initiative and kept Fulham on the back foot for long spells.
Some of their attacking edge was lost midway through the half when Mark Randall was shown the red card but Fulham held out, despite having their woodwork rattled on two occasions.
Speaking after the match, Billy McKinlay gave his assessment:
“We sat a little bit too deep and had a couple of hairy moments in the second half, but overall we’re delighted with the clean sheet and the win,” he said. “From Arsenal’s point of view, they’ll probably feel a bit hard done by but we hung in there and defended really well at times.
“Out of the six games we’ve played so far, we’ve only been unhappy with our play on two occasions – the second half against Chelsea and the first half against Watford. We’ve been playing quite well and it’s nice to get a wee confidence booster for the coming fixtures.”
Fulham:
Lastuvka; Moncur, Omozusi, Christanval, Zakuani; Collins, Timlin, James, Goncalves (Saunders 80), Brown; Ehui (Noble 83)
