Fulham secured their second win in two games, with a hard fought 2-1 victory against West Bromwich Albion.
Goals from Jean-Pierre Tiehi and Terry Ablade proved to be enough for the young Whites, who needed to withstand late pressure to take all three points.
The two sides took a few minutes to find their feet, with the first effort coming from the home side on six minutes.
A lofted diagonal ball found Taylor Gardner-Hickman towards the back post whose audacious volley attempt whipped just wide of the far corner.
A couple of minutes later, after a scramble in the box, the ball bounced out to West Brom’s George Harmon and his low effort fired wide.
The young Whites showed their threat going forward in the 22nd minute, scoring from their first real chance of the game.
Ziyad Larkeche made a powerful, surging run before switching the play to Fabio Carvalho on the right. His perfect curling cross found Tiehi who was left with a free header, which he comfortably put away.
The Baggies threatened down the other end just minutes later. After winning a free-kick on the edge of the box, Toby King’s powerful effort flew just wide.
Tiehi nearly scored his second in the 31st minute thanks to a neat piece of play from Colin Omogbehin and Mark Pembridge’s side. Ablade played a clever through-ball but the striker couldn’t quite get the ball under control and was dispossessed.
Our lead was soon doubled on 39 minutes, thanks to a superb pass from Carvalho. His looping ball over the top found Ablade whose composed half volley rolled into the far corner. Scintillating football from our U23s.
Some pacey attacking play and clinical finishing saw us head into the break with a 2-0 lead.
Five minutes after the break, West Brom carved out a chance through some clever play. Gardner-Hickman played a give-and-go with Own Windsor but his shot on the edge of the box was sliced and drifted wide.
Carvalho almost added a third in the 57th minute after sprinting down the right and hitting a low shot towards the far bottom corner, but goalkeeper Ted Cann was down quickly to block it.
The game was still far from over and the hosts came close to pulling one back when King’s right-footed effort whizzed just wide of the far post. George Wickens could only watch.
West Brom came close a couple of times before eventually scoring one back in the 72nd minute. Fin Thorndike cleverly evaded several tackles in our penalty box before smashing the ball into the far corner. Wickens was left was little chance of getting near it.
Jayden Harris was given an opportunity to put the game out of reach late on from a counter-attack. Carvalho’s cross somehow made its way across the busy penalty box to Harris but his shot was smashed over.
Key Talking Points:
- The result means Fulham now sit in second place, with a game in hand over the sides around them
- Attackers Jean-Pierre Tiehi and Terry Ablade opened their accounts for the season with a goal each
- Jaydn Mundle-Smith put in a strong performance in defence after coming back from injury
Team Lineup:
G Wickens (GK), L Murphy, C McAvoy, J Mundle-Smith ©, Z Larkeche, J Harris, B Davis, R De Havilland, F Carvalho, T Ablade, JP Tiehi
Subs:
D Las (GK), E Ameyaw, T Abraham, O O’Neill