Fulham Under-18s progressed to the Fifth Round of the FA Youth Cup with a 4-1 win at Exeter City.
Tom Wingate and Farhaan Ali Wahid scored a brace each as Ali Melloul’s side set up a home tie against either Arsenal or QPR in the next round.
Just three days after returning from the REWE Junior Cup in Germany, our Young Whites may have been forgiven for a sluggish start, but Wingate quickly stung the palms of Dylan Shanahan with a powerful strike from outside the box.
Wingate, full of confidence after winning the top scorer award in Göttingen, broke the deadlock as he raced through on goal and calmly slotted the ball past Shanahan.
However, our advantage was immediately snatched away as Santino Ohanaka equalised, applying the finishing touch on a smart set-piece routine.
Wingate made it seven goals in his last five matches on the stroke of half-time. His finish highlighted his confidence, meeting a pinpoint Seth Ridgeon pass and lofting the ball over Shanahan with an audacious lob that landed in the bottom corner.
On the hunt to increase our advantage after the break, Ali Wahid danced inside onto his right foot and dragged a shot narrowly wide of the near post.
The winger made a similar run in the 65th minute, cutting in from the flank, but this time he added the finishing touch, arrowing the ball into the bottom corner.
Wingate wanted his second hat-trick of this FA Youth Cup campaign, spotting Shanahan off his line and attempting a shot from the halfway line, which flew just over the bar.
Ali Wahid had the final say in the contest, beating the Exeter goalkeeper with another powerful strike as our Young Whites safely secured their passage to the Fifth Round.
Melloul’s side are next in action on Saturday 25th January against Southampton, 11am kick-off at Motspur Park.
