Fulham 1-0 Rotherham

Fulham defeated Rotherham United by a goal to nil as we got our Emirates FA Cup campaign off to a winning start at Craven Cottage.

A first half low on incident was lit up by a Bobby De Cordova-Reid piledriver in the 24th minute.

Andreas Pereira then hit a post, and visiting goalkeeper Viktor Johansson made a terrific stop to deny Tosin after the break, but no more goals were forthcoming as the Whites confirmed their place in Monday’s draw for the Fourth Round.

Despite making eight changes, it was still a strong starting XI named by Marco Silva – Timothy Castagne, Tosin and De Cordova-Reid the three who also began the New Year’s Eve victory over Arsenal.

Fulham were dominating possession in the first quarter of the game, seeing 85 per cent of the ball, but were struggling to create really clear cut chances against a deep Rotherham outfit.

The visitors, therefore, will be frustrated with how the opener came about, when Harry Wilson caught Sebastian Revan in possession in his own area with a firm tackle. The ball then dropped kindly to De Cordova-Reid who absolutely leathered his shot into the net from 20 yards.

The Millers had the ball in the net a few minutes later when Tom Eaves’ misdirected shot was turned in by Jordan Hugill, but it was immediately ruled out for offside.

More high pressing from Wilson won another turnover in possession for the Whites and created a chance for Rodrigo Muniz, who couldn’t get his long range strike on target.

It looked certain to be 2-0 a few minutes before the break. First, Andreas’ caressed effort from Kenny Tete’s centre came back off the post, with Harrison Reed’s follow-up blocked by Revan.

The second half began with a firm Andreas free-kick which didn’t quite drop in time to trouble Johansson, and a slick move down the left which culminated in Reed seeing his low first time strike deflect behind.

From the corner, Wilson stung the palms of Johansson with a swirling strike from distance as we kept the pressure on.

Johansson was much busier in the second half, showing good reactions to beat away Tosin’s header from an Andreas corner just before the hour mark.

A barnstorming run from Issa Diop saw him continue his foray into the box after feeding Castagne to his left, but he could only poke wide after receiving the return pass from the Belgian.

Substitute Tyrese Francois – making his first senior appearance since August, having picked up an injury while with the Under-21s – got his volleyed connection from a Tete delivery on target, but too close to Johansson.

Fellow substitutes Willian and Carlos Vinicius almost wrapped things up in the final minute of stoppage time, but the latter could only roll his shot into the grateful arms of Johansson after his teammate had broken from a Millers corner.

It had not been a match for the history books, but the job was done and Fulham were in the hat for Round Four.