Fulham U21 4-2 Sparta Prague U21

Fulham Under-21s put on a great performance to beat Czech side Sparta Prague 4-2 on Wednesday. The result means they've reached the semi-finals of the Premier League International Cup.

Sonny Hilton and Luke Harris bagged in the first half, before a quickfire Martial Godo double helped ensure we reached the final four in a second competition this season.

Matt Dibley-Dias started alongside George Okkas in midfield to make his first start since returning from injury. Fresh from his Wales call-up, Luke Harris slotted in just ahead of him.

The first opportunity of the night came our way five minutes in after a positive start. Terry Ablade found himself through down the left and his powerful strike was well saved by Filip Nalezinek.

The young Whites started excellently and came just as close a couple of minutes later. George Okkas battled to win the ball in midfield before playing a perfect through-ball to Ablade. Again, though, he was denied by the Sparta Prague ‘keeper who came rushing off his line to block.

Harris came close to opening the scoring on 20 minutes, with the visitors struggling to keep the ball. Dibley-Dias played a clever looping cross from the left, but the Welshman’s header from close range flew over.

Sparta Prague threatened for the first time straight after. Tomáš Schánelec drilled a low effort towards George Wickens, but our stopper was equal to the strike.

The deadlock was broken just before the half-hour mark, and after sustained pressure it was our 21s who went ahead. Wickens’ long ball bounced straight through to Hilton, who cut onto his left to beat his man before planting a strike past the goalkeeper.

We then doubled our lead not long after. Hilton received the ball on the right before firing in a low cross which was poked over the line by Harris.

The away side grabbed themselves one back five minutes before the break, though. Patrik Vydra’s incredible free-kick beat Wickens before finding the bottom right corner. Game well and truly back on.

A half full of quality was to brought to a close with Steve Wigley’s lads 2-1 up.

The visitors started the second half well, but we extended our lead through Godo on 52 minutes. After latching onto a brilliant Hilton through-ball, the winger calmly slotted the ball underneath Nalezinek.

Then, literally seconds later, he was on hand to score his second and Fulham’s fourth of the game. His powerful effort from just inside the area took a slight deflection before finding the top-left corner.

We had our tails up and went in search of a fifth. Jay Williams curled a decent left-footed effort just wide of the far post after getting hold of a loose ball.

Our opponents grabbed a goal back on 70 minutes, with Vydra scoring his second of the evening. Wickens did well to save the initial effort, but the ball fell nicely to the attacker who did the rest.

We responded well, though. Ablade fired a low shot just wide before coming equally as close soon after with a decent header.

Godo could've scored his hat-trick as we went into added time, when he found himself charging through after a counter-attack. Unfortunately, he couldn't outrun his man and was tracked down before being tackled.

We defended well late on to secure an excellent win against tough opposition.