Fulham 2-1 Southampton

João Palhinha's dramatic late header meant Fulham ended 2022 with another massive three points.

Andreas Pereira's first half volley eventually went down as an own-goal for James Ward-Prowse, who then made up for it with a free-kick in the second half to level it up. Aleksandar Mitrović missed a chance to grab a goal from the spot at the death, but in the end that didn't matter as Fulham were victorios. 

An impressive Boxing Day display against Crystal Palace meant Marco Silva saw no need to change anything up in his XI, and everyone kept their place hoping for the same result as before.

Prior to kick-off there was a poignant display of respect and remembrance for George Cohen MBE and Pele, as wreaths were laid by Fulham legends past and present and a minute’s applause was held around Craven Cottage.

It took until 11 minutes for the first chance of note in the game, and it came from a familiar Brazilian pairing. Some neat interchange between Pereira and his good friend Willian ended with the latter flashing a half-volley at goal from the edge of the box, cannoning off the outer top-corner of the net.

Several minutes later and the Saints had an even bigger chance to take the lead themselves. Che Adams beat the offside trap to race through on goal with plenty of time to think about his next move. The Scotsman decided to take on Bernd Leno with the shot from close, but our German ‘keeper was more than a match for him and made a brilliant reflect save. From the resulting corner Adams had another opportunity from close range, but a combination of Leno and then Palhinha saw off the threat.

It was a scrappy contest with a lack of clear-cut chances up until the half-hour mark. Samuel Edozie did well to work his way through the Fulham defence before unleashing an effort from the edge of the box, but it was straight forward for Leno in the end.

Antonee Robinson was next to cause danger with his electric pace in full effect as he raced down the left and got a cross into the corridor of uncertainty, which Armel Bella-Kotchap just about managed to put behind.

The resulting corner bared fruit for Fulham who managed to get ahead. The link-up was there again as Willian floated his cross deep to Pereira, who rifled one towards goal on the volley, with a deflection off James Ward-Prowse seeing it loop into the Southampton net.

After a labored start to the second half, Fulham mustered the first chance of it five minutes in. Willian’s cross wasn’t quite on target and Bobby De Cordova-Reid did well to collect and recycle it back towards Andreas, who poked a shot narrowly wide of the near post.

Next was a Southampton equaliser on 55 minutes, as James Ward-Prowse made up for his unfortunate own goal with a trademark free-kick to get things back on level terms.

In an edgy contest not much was clicking for either team, until on 72 minutes substitute Tom Cairney carved a chance out of nothing. Pinching the ball back on the halfway line, our skipper drove towards the Saints’ defence before knocking it wide for the overlapping Robinson. He floated a cross in towards the back post where Mitrović came crashing in but couldn’t get to it. Eventually the ball bounced to Kenny Tete who could only put his effort over after being pushed off balance by a defender.

TC was involved again in Fulham’s next good spell of play. This time, a neat one-two with Willian got him behind enemy lines down the left, however his cross didn’t meet its’ intended target and Lyanco headed clear.

Just when it looked like the points would be shared, up popped some late magic, in the 89^th minute. From a corner, Tete flicked a looping header towards the back post, where Palhinha was waiting. Our Portuguese warrior peeled off his marker, Stuart Armstrong, brilliantly and nodded it in from a couple of yards out to make it 2-1.

With only a few minutes of added time to go, Fulham had a chance to make some breathing room with a penalty. After a calamitous mix-up between Lyanco and goalkeeper, Gavin Bazunu, the latter punched out at Dan James, who was being a menace to the pair. Mitrović stepped up to take, but saw his attempt saved.

In the end that didn't matter, and Fulham finished the year with another vital three points.