U18: Fulham 2-0 Middlesbrough

Fulham Under-18s got off to a winning start in the Premier League Cup, defeating Middlesbrough 2-0 on a sunny Tuesday afternoon at Motspur Park.

Second half goals from Macaulay Zepa and Tom Wingate gave us the three points, with Aston Villa and Wolves drawing 0-0 in the other game in our group.

Wingate nearly gave us an early lead as he was played through on goal in the box, but he was denied by a terrific save by the feet of Felix Elliott.

Marco Underwood had to be at his best to deny a powerful Nino Collins header, before he gobbled up a long ranger from the Middlesbrough striker.

On the half hour mark, Jayden Quashie’s wicked delivery from a corner found the head of Wingate, but his flick fell just on the wrong side of the post.

A constant threat down the right, Zepa just missed the target as he tried to curl a shot into the top corner on his dangerous left foot, before our final chance of the half fell to Farhaan Ali Wahid, who couldn’t quite wrap his foot around the ball enough as he attempted to pick out the bottom corner after being set up by Seth Ridgeon.

Looking to unpick the Boro defence, Ridgeon went on a run down the middle of the pitch shortly after the break, and with options left and right, he decided to find Wingate on his left, but the striker blasted the ball over the bar.

The opener came on 55 minutes and it was Zepa with a trademark goal. He drifted inside from the right, found a yard of space and drilled the ball into the near corner from the edge of the box.

Despite being denied on a number of occasions earlier in the game, Wingate claimed a deserved goal of his own just nine minutes later, doubling our lead as he finished from a corner from the right.

At the other end, Underwood had to remain alert, keeping out a powerful Anton Palmer shot from 25 yards which moved in the air on its way towards goal.

Ali Melloul’s side saw out the game in the final minutes and now prepare to face Norwich City in league action on Saturday, 1pm kick-off.