Stoke City 2-3 Fulham

Fulham came out on top of a tough battle against Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.

There were two goals inside the opening two minutes at the bet365 Stadium. D’Margio Wright-Phillips – son of Shaun – volleyed the hosts in front, before Rodrigo Muniz’s immediate response.

Fabio Carvalho then put the Whites in front, though Muniz may lay claim to the goal, but parity was restored in the second half through Lewis Baker.

There was one final twist, and thankfully it went our way. Muniz got a firm header on Tom Cairney’s corner only to see it come back off the bar, but Bobby De Cordova-Reid was there to slam home the loose ball.

There were three changes to the side that defeated Birmingham City in midweek. Kenny Tete came in at right-back, replacing Denis Odoi who dropped to the bench, while Harry Wilson and Aleksandar Mitrović missed out altogether, with De Cordova-Reid and Muniz coming in.

Not 40 seconds had been played when Stoke went in front. Josh Tymon had time on the left flank to deliver a pinpoint cross to Wright-Phillips, and the forward made no mistake, guiding a sidefooted volley beyond Marek Rodák.

But the Whites have shown in our last two games just how to respond to adversity, and it was no different this time.

Straight from kick-off we drove forward, and after being found by Harrison Reed, Muniz held the ball up, spun, and lashed a stunning strike into the postage stamp. 1-1 with under two minutes played.

The tempo slowed somewhat after a frenetic opening, but we went close to the lead on 25 minutes when a well worked corner routine ended with Cairney curling a cross to the far tick. Tosin was all set to head in from a yard out, until a vital intervention from Tommy Smith.

The away fans did not have long to wait, though. After slipping De Cordova-Reid through, Carvalho advanced to show for the return ball. It duly came and he slotted home via the post, with Muniz getting a faint touch on its way in.

Muniz was making an impressive transition from Rio de Janeiro to Stoke-on-Trent, causing the bruising Potters defenders plenty of problems, his latest when he outjumped them to get a firm header on Cairney’s free-kick, drawing a save from Jack Bonham.

Fulham began the second half on the front foot, twice causing panic in the Stoke six-yard box in the opening stages. First Tete was denied by Bonham, before Smith prevented Kebano tapping in following sterling work from Carvalho.

The Potters found an equaliser against the run of play, but it was some strike to be fair. Baker had space 25 yards out when he received a square pass, took a touch to steady himself and arrowed a dipping strike into the far corner.

But, again, the Whites fought back. After Muniz was unlucky to see his powerful header from Cairney’s corner thwack the crossbar, De Cordova-Reid kept his composure to rifle in a stunning half volley to restore his side’s lead.

A couple of hairy moments followed. First, Tymon’s ingenuity in popping the ball beyond his man presented a shooting chance, with his fierce hit parried by Rodák. The second was a bit bizarre, with substitute Jaden Philogene-Bidace squeezing a ball forward that took a couple of deflections, eventually coming back off the post.

The Aston Villa loanee looked a lively customer, and only just cleared Rodák’s crossbar moments later at the end of a purposeful run.

Six minutes were added on at the end but Fulham managed the game expertly, and could even have added to the lead with Carvalho and substitute Anthony Knockaert both going close.