Fulham 2-1 Peterborough

Aleksandar Mitrović made history as his brace helped Fulham see off Peterborough United 2-1 at Craven Cottage.

He won and converted a penalty in the first half to make it 32 for the season, the most any player has ever scored in a Championship campaign.

And our talisman followed it up after the restart with a cool volley to put his team in control.

Posh substitute Jack Marriott netted late on to ensure an unnecessarily nervy finale, but the Whites held on to return to winning ways.

Marco Silva made three changes to his team, one of which was enforced due to Tom Cairney falling ill, while Nathaniel Chalobah and Harry Wilson dropped to the bench. Harrison Reed, Jean Michaël Seri and Neeskens Kebano were the trio to come in.

And it was Reed who had the first sniff of goal. After collecting the ball from Tosin’s speculative strike, our number six unleashed a rising effort which needed a deflection to send it off target.

Mitrović then got two headers onto crosses from the left inside 60 seconds. First he glanced Kebano’s in-swinger wide, before drawing a first save of the night from Steven Benda when he met Antonee Robinson’s pinpoint delivery.

The Posh goalkeeper had cause for concern again on 19 minutes when Seri’s drilled effort took a nick that sent the ball spinning goalwards, but he kept watch and repositioned to prevent it from dropping over his head.

A first touch for Marek Rodák soon followed, as he got down to claim Reece Brown’s shot from the edge of the box.

Reed was getting in good positions and drew another save from Benda bang on 25 minutes when he volleyed Mitrović’s headed pass into the ground following a brilliant diagonal from Seri.

But the opener was imminent, and it was a historic moment. Mitrović won the penalty himself after drawing a clumsy challenge from Harrison Burrows, and he confidently sent Benda to wrong way to confirm himself as the most prolific scorer ever in a Championship season.

There was a hairy moment 12 minutes after the restart when Jonson Clarke-Harris’ free-kick took a wicked deflection and looked to have found its range, but thankfully the ball had ruffled the top of the net, rather than the back of it, much to the dismay of the already celebrating travelling contingent.

A blinding run from Neco Williams was then brought to an abrupt halt with a foul in the area, but with the loose ball falling to Bobby De Cordova-Reid the referee allowed play to continue. He fizzed one into the middle for Reed to connect with sweetly, but Benda tipped over his half volley at full stretch.

Benda thought he’d made a save moments later when he got a glove on Mitrović’s effort, but the Serbian’s half volley from Kebano’s lovely cross had too much power and Fulham were two goals to the good.

That assist was Kebano’s final act as he made way for Ivan Cavaleiro, who burst into the action with a jinking run that almost saw him flash an acute strike into the far corner, but for a deflection.

The winger went even closer on 73 minutes, cutting inside from 20 yards and finessing a dipping strike under the crossbar that Benda reacted well to.

Mitrović went close to a hat-trick with quarter of an hour to play. Seri’s deep cross was quality, but Benda was well placed to catch Mitro’s downwards header.

Both sides then saw decent hits come and go; Fabio Carvalho was unfortunate to find Benda in good form once again, while Posh substitute Callum Morton got plenty behind his narrowly off-target lash.

Mitrović was kept on as he chased a fourth treble of the season, and it nearly came in stunning fashion when Seri’s scooped ball played him in. After taking it down on his chest, he tried to place his finish, but Benda was out sharply to narrow the angle.

Benda had been outstanding for the visitors and he played a key role in their goal. After he came out on top of a one-v-one with substitute Wilson, United countered quickly through Morton – fortunate to survive claims of a foul on Tosin – who eventually squared for Marriott who had an emphatic finish in his locker.

It made things much more uncomfortable than they needed to be, but the lads held out to secure a deserved three points.