Fulham 1-1 Middlesbrough

Fulham were forced to settle for a point despite a dominant performance in our 2021/22 opener against Middlesbrough.

Harry Wilson marked his debut for the Club with a fine first half goal, but the Teessiders levelled things up through Marc Bola’s effort against the run of play in the second period.

For his first competitive XI, Marco Silva gave Paulo Gazzaniga the nod in goal, with a back four in front of him consisting of Kenny Tete, Tosin, Captain Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson.

Josh Onomah and Tyrese Francois anchored the midfield, with Wilson, Fabio Carvalho and Neeskens Kebano operating further up the pitch in support of lone striker Aleksandar Mitrović.

Onomah got the crowd roaring 14 minutes in when he burst into the box at the end of a slick move he started, but his shot deflected behind.

The midfielder then played Carvalho in with a smart outside of the boot pass, but Grant Hall’s deflection took the venom out of the youngster’s shot and Joe Lumley was able to make a simple save.

The Boro goalkeeper’s next stop was a lot more taxing, though, flying across to palm away Wilson’s volley which was heading towards the top corner.

Fulham were turning the screw and it came as no surprise when we took the lead. Onomah was again involved, holding the ball up before feeding Wilson who was allowed to cut inside and drill a low shot through a raft of red bodies and into the net.

It was fantastic to hear such noise inside the Cottage again, and it almost got better moments later when Kebano took aim, but his long ranger flew the wrong side of the post.

Five minutes into the second half the Whites thought they’d earned what seemed a stonewall penalty when Sam Morsy got none of the ball and a lot of Carvalho, but referee Keith Stroud waved away the appeals.

Our Academy graduate had another sight of goal soon after when he got on the end of Mitrović’s flick, but he couldn’t find the target and the ball ended up in the Hammy End.

Some silky link-up play between Tete and Onomah just after the hour mark led to the former dinking a cross into the middle. Kebano rose highest and headed goalwards, but it was too central and Lumley made the catch.

Another Tete delivery found its mark again 70 minutes in, but Mitrović could only head wide while being wrestled to the ground.

Fulham were keen to get the second goal and a fine flowing move up the pitch deserved a better ending when Kebano dragged his effort past the far post while off balance.

Boro hadn’t had a sniff of goal all afternoon but equalised with their first shot on target. Fulham couldn’t clear the lines and Bola was there to lash the ball inside the far corner.

We looked for an immediate response and almost had it when Onomah’s ball over the top sent Wilson in. His poked shot was saved by the onrushing Lumley, and Mitrović then sent the follow-up over.

We almost fell victim to the ultimate smash and grab when Boro pinched possession high up the pitch, but Marcus Tavernier lashed wildly over the top.

It wasn’t the result we wanted or deserved, but things could have been worse had Tosin not made a brave block to deny Tavernier in the fifth minute of added time.