Fulham Under-23s got their year underway, managing to edge Crystal Palace to a 3-2 win.
Great strikes from Fabio Carvalho and Sylvester Jasper gave the young Whites a two-goal lead, before the hosts clawed their way back level before half-time. Jean-Pierre Tiehi's early second half goal was enough in the end to take the three points.
After a cagey opening few minutes, the young Whites soon opened the scoring on the seven-minute mark, with a moment of quality courtesy of Carvalho. After stealing the ball outside of the Palace area, he powered through the heart of the defence before poking a chipped effort into the top corner.
The young Whites began to dominate the game after taking the lead and they were soon rewarded, with Jasper getting his name on the scoresheet. Jayden Harris found the attacker, who fired the ball underneath goalkeeper Oliver Webber from a tight angle.
The hosts were given a lifeline just a few minutes later from the penalty spot. Lesley Duru conceded the penalty, which was calmly converted by Sion Spence.
Fulham thought they’d regained their two-goal cushion on the half hour mark. Carvalho played a clever ball to Tiehi, who controlled it with his chest before smashing it into the far corner. Unfortunately, the flag was soon raised for offside. A fantastic move, nonetheless.
The home side were able to find an equaliser not long before half-time. Palace’s Brandon Pierrick intercepted the ball before dribbling past a defender and blasting his shot into the left-hand corner. Luca Ashby-Hammond was left with no chance.
The young Whites would have been kicking themselves as the half-time whistle blew.
It took our Under-23’s just four minutes to regain the lead after the break, with a brilliant counter-attacking move. Carvalho travelled with the ball from his own half before playing Tiehi through. The big man made no mistake, slotting his effort beyond the ‘keeper.
John-Kymani Gordon was inches away from getting Palace level again in spectacular fashion on the hour mark. As a cross was pinged in from the right, his impressive volley whizzed just wide of the far post.
Ashby-Hammond needed to come to his teams’ rescue on 74 minutes, sprinting out of his goal to deny Pierrick a second and keep the score at 2-3.
The young Whites were forced to defend resolutely towards the end and did, helping them go on to take the three points.
Team Lineup:
Ashby-Hammond, Duru, McAvoy, Larkeche, Murphy; Davis, Harris, De Havilland; Carvalho, Jasper, Tiehi
Subs:
Trialist, Benjamin, O’Neill, Biereth, Abraham