Fulham flop against Crystal Palace yet again as concerns grow over lack of firepower
Carabao Cup Fourth Round
Fulham (0) 0
Crystal Palace (1) 1 Nketiah 37
For Fulham, it was a case of 'It's happened again.'
They have come to really dread a visit from the Eagles - having lost the last four to their south London rivals and having failed to beat them by the Thames since 2005 - a run of nine games before this latest reverse.
Once again Palace prevailed - as they did not so long ago in winning a Premier League clash 3-2. They are into the League Cup quarter-finals with another Wembley visit still a carrot for them.
Even with a decidedly second string starting XI, it turns out they had the measure of the Whites. They scored against the run of play but then managed the game impressively. They limited Fulham to very few chances.
This was a result to ease some of the pressure on boss Pierre Sage, whose job feels under threat after a difficult start to his tenure since arriving in the summer. A clean sheet is also so welcome after conceding more league goals so far than anyone else in the top flight.
But conversely, the Whites will be worried about their feeble attack. Only two goals against two promoted sides and none against the worst defence in the Prem.
It was nearly all change for the Eagles - with 10 new faces in the starting line-up from the weekend defeat to Newcastle. For Fulham, it was a mere six changes. The net outcome was a more cohesive looking Fulham than their visitors during most of the opening half.
They should have gone in front when Kenny Tete had a free far-post header that he put into the side netting and Cesar Palacios was denied by the legs of a returning Dean Henderson after being set up by Sander Berge inside the area.
Eagles fans crammed into the river side half of the Putney End will have been pleased to see their talismanic keeper back between the sticks.
The many goals they have conceded this season are not down to Walter Benitez by any means but the psycholgy of having their trophy-winning stopper back in situ was no doubt reassuring.
For the opening half an hour, Palace were frankly nowhere and hardly venturing beyond half way. But they nosed in front when Oscar Mingueza's perfectly angled cross from the right was met superbly by Eddie Nketiah - getting in front of Joachim Andersen to steer the ball beyond Benjamin Lecomte.
Almost improbably, the away fans started lauding 'Perre Sage's red and blue army.' Considering the boos his team received after the loss to Newcastle and the fact he is under so much pressure, it was perhaps unexpected, but then again Eagles fans are not easily discouraged.
Fulham's 75 per cent of the ball had got them nowhere so it was no surprise that we saw a triple change from Alvaro Arbeloa before the hour was up. On came Josh King and Tom Cairney in a bid to find greater creativity. Gonzalo Garcia was alsothrown on with 15 to play. Sage responded by introducing Adam Wharton for Palace.
The Whites did briefly look more balanced and Alex Iwobi wasn't far from stabbing in from close rage - it needed a good save from Henderson on his goalline to block the effort. But it was Palace who grew stronger as the minutes ticked by - Dwight McNeil and Yeremy Pino coming on to add more heft.
Garcia had a late header at goal and Kevin flashed a ball across the face of goal in injury time but it was not nearly enough.
Whites: (4-2-3-1) Lecomte - Tete (Castagne 58), Andersen, Bassey, Robinson - Berge. Larsson (Cairney 58) - Bobb (Kevin 82), Palacios (King 58), Iwobi (Garcia 73) - Muniz
Eagles: (3-4-2-1) Henderson - Lerma, Chilwell (Michell 61), Richards - Mingueza, Hughes, Doucoure (Wharton 61), Ahanor - Osorio (Pino 77), Guessand (Kamada 77) - Nketiah (McNeil 71)
Attendance: 22,420
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