Fulham 2-1 Leicester City

Fulham claimed their first three points of the 2024/25 campaign with a 2-1 victory over Leicester City on Saturday. 

A dream start for Fulham saw Emile Smith Rowe open his Fulham account in the 18th minute before Leicester clambered back into the encounter and levelled prior to half-time. With twenty minutes remaining Alex Iwobi restored our lead and it proved to be the crucial goal as we held on for victory. 

Marco Silva named an unchanged starting XI from the side that had narrowly lost on opening day away at Old Trafford a week ago. There was one notable addition to the bench however, with fan favourite Ryan Sessegnon taking the place of Josh King amongst the substitutes. 

It had been a wet and windy afternoon in SW6 but mercifully the rain had subsided to a light drizzle as the referee got the match under way. 

It was Fulham who started the brightest and in the fourth minute we had our first effort on goal. A sweeping move across to the right flank culminated in a stinging left-footed shot from Adama Traoré. Mads Hermansen was alert and well positioned to parry behind for a corner.

The Fulham onslaught continued as we pressed and probed but it was Bobby De Cordova-Reid, on his return to Craven Cottage who tested Bernd Leno from distance in the ninth minute. 

In the 18th minute the deadlock was broken as we cut through Leicester like a knife through butter. Traoré who had started brightly did excellently on the right wing to bounce off a challenge and meander infield before spotting an unmarked Smith Rowe who had ghosted in behind the visitors back line. With defenders scrambling to get back the midfielder burst into the box and slammed a left-footed effort into the far corner. A superb finish to open his Fulham account in style. 

With Leicester looking to slow the tempo and regain a foothold in the encounter the match tempo petered out in their favour and in the 38th minute they pulled level. A deep cross was thundered home by Faes at the back post past Leno in the Fulham net. After briefly being ruled out for offside the goal stood after VAR review as Jamie Vardy was deemed to not be obstructing the view of the Fulham keeper. 

As the referee brought the first half to a close Fulham would feel somewhat frustrated not to have made their dominance in the opening quarter of the game lead to a larger lead. However, with the equaliser it was all to play for in the second half. 

In the 49th minute Fulham missed a golden opportunity to restore their lead. A sloppy turn from Faes gifted Adama the ball in the opposition box. With only Hermansen to beat the Spanish winger squared to an unmarked Rodrigo Muniz 6 yards out, but the striker snatched at his effort it lashed his effort over the bar. 

With the match remaining in deadlock Fulham were finding it hard to unlock the Leicester lines despite multiple costly giveaways in their own half.

Sensing Fulham needed an extra impetuous in an attacking sense Smith Rowe & Adama made way for Harry Wilson & Tom Cairney respectively with 20 minutes remaning. 

Seconds after the changes our lead was restored courtesy of Iwobi. Again, it was all too easy. A deft first-time pass from Antonee Robinson from left back sliced the Foxes back line. Iwobi was clear through on the left flank and after calmly working his way into the box his shot was partially saved by Hermansen before nestling in the back of the net. 

A nervy final ten minutes ensued but we held on to claim our first points of the season.