Fulham were made to pay for a host of missed opportunities as Southampton came from a goal behind to snatch all three points with two goals in the last 10 minutes at Motspur Park last weekend.
The Whites started strongly, Matt Saunders and Luca Moscatiello saw a lot of the ball and their distribution was creating plenty of chances for their forward pair. Probably the best of these fell to Lewis Smith who, when played through on goal, did well to shrug off the challenge of his defender. But despite the keeper closing down the angle very quickly, Smith will have been disappointed to have directed his shot straight at the keeper.
Fulham continued to dominate. The work rate of Smith and Michael Uwezu up front was giving the Saints defence no time to settle on the ball and with the back line remaining untested for the first 45, the Whites went in at the break looking the dominant of the two sides.
The breakthrough came in the second-half and in spectacular fashion. Uwezu forged an opening down the right-hand-side, before crossing into the box. Wayne Jackson connected superbly with the pass and sent a sweet volley into the top left-hand-corner.
Fulham continued to press, but they failed to convert pressure into goals, and Southampton began to up their efforts, sensing that they might be able to get something from the game. And that they did, in similarly impressive style, as a long range effort dipped under the crossbar. The Whites then conceded again soon after with a goal scored at the back post.
The quickfire double obviously came as a shock, but the hosts drove forward once more, and with the chances they had could have won the game, let alone reclaimed a draw. Saunders hit the bar, Laribi also skimmed it with a shot from outside the area and Tyrone Cameron blazed over from a Goncalves cutback. The chances were there for Fulham, but on the day, the three points went to the team that made the most of their opportunities, and that was Southampton.
After the game Head of Youth, John Murtough, looked back ruefully on a game his side had dominated and admitted that his youngsters needed to learn lessons from it. “The ProZone stats showed that we dominated possession and had more chances on goal, but it didn’t happen,” said John. “You feel sorry for the boys because they did everything right, but the chances just weren’t put away in the final third.”
“There is a lesson for us to learn from today; if we’re not clinical as a team then we might get punished and that happened. We want challenges for these young lads; it’s what youth development is all about. They have a new challenge now and we have to make sure they respond in a positive manner.”
Fulham: Etheridge; Cumber, Thompson, Brown, Anderson; Goncalves, Moscatiello, Saunders, Jackson; Uwezu, Smith.