Millwall 1-2 Fulham

Fulham continued their unbeaten start to the season with victory at Millwall, in a contest that was nowhere near as close as the scoreline suggests.

The Whites absolutely flew out of the traps and were two goals up inside eight minutes. First Fabio Carvalho set up Aleksandar Mitrović for a cool finish, before finding the net himself after being sent in by Neeskens Kebano.

A number of opportunities to extend the lead came and went, something which looked concerning when Benik Afobe scored a freak goal in the 87th minute.

But the boys saw the game out to make it seven points from the opening three matches of the 2021/22 Sky Bet Championship.

Marco Silva was forced into two changes to the team that started the 5-1 win over Huddersfield Town, both in wide areas. Harry Wilson began his three-game ban so Kebano took his spot on the right, while Bobby De Cordova-Reid missed out with a slight knock and was replaced by Ivan Cavaleiro, fresh from his brace off the bench at the John Smith’s.

Fulham needed less than three minutes to get the ball rolling. Carvalho motored beyond his man down the left flank before cutting back to Mitrović, with the big man sending a first time shot past Bartosz Bialkowski, whose first action of the night was to pick the ball out of his net.

It was two five minutes later as Carvalho went from provider to scorer, latching onto Kebano’s perfectly weighted through pass and lashing a shot inside the near post. It was some start by Silva’s men.

The poor start had the natives restless, something which wasn’t helped by a number of misplaced passes from the home side.

Kebano deserved credit for staying on his feet when the shirt was practically ripped off his back in the 21st minute, and he still managed to get a shot away having skipped into the area, but a covering defender managed to block.

With just over half an hour played, Cavaleiro really should have made it 3-0, only to skew his left footed shot off target when played clear through by Carvalho.

A couple of half chances came our way before the break, but Mitrović couldn’t divert a corner in when it arrived at him quickly, and Kebano was unable to pick out a teammate after dancing into the box and cutting back from the byline.

And just before half-time, Carvalho took aim from 20 yards, but a late toe from a Millwall player deflected it behind. The subsequent corner came to nothing, but it was a superb 45 from the Whites.

Josh Onomah was withdrawn at the interval, presumably having picked up a knock because he had been imperious in the first half, with Frank Anguissa replacing him. Millwall, too, switched things up, introducing former Fulham striker Matt Smith to add a greater aerial presence up top.

We could have extended the lead one minute into the second half, but Bialkowski made a fine double save to keep out both Mitrović’s volley and Carvalho’s follow-up.

Somehow the ball stayed out of the Millwall goal as the hour mark approached after Anguissa had pinched possession in their box. He teed up Carvalho for the finish but a heroic block denied him, and Cavaleiro’s subsequent shot had the same outcome.

A first effort of note by the Lions then followed, but Jed Wallace swung his shot some way wide.

Mitrović and Carvalho had destroyed Millwall all night and they almost combined for a sublime third in the 76th minute when the latter collected a one-two and placed a shot, only to be denied by the outstretched leg of Millwall captain Jake Cooper.

The 18-year-old then turned provider again, but Kebano could only drill his shot on the angle into the side-netting.

The Whites were keen to get the third goal which would have been the least their play merited, with Cavaleiro next to have a go, Bialkowski beating away his powerful effort down the throat.

The hosts’ best chance of the night arrived seconds later. After tearing up the field following a misplaced Cavaleiro pass, they planted a cross plum on the head of Smith, but thankfully his powerful header cleared the bar by half a yard.

Millwall ensured it would be a nervy finale when Smith’s wayward header deflected in via Afobe, with the goal scorer then drawing a first save of the game from Paulo Gazzaniga as they tried to capitalise on a rare bit of momentum.

But the Whites held firm to continue our fine start to the campaign, one which sees us sit top of the league.