Sodden Saturday success over Sunderland gives Fulham three precious points towards Premier League safety

Fulham (0) 1 v Sunderland (0) 0

Raúl Jiménez 84

By Kaz Mochlinski at Craven Cottage

Premier League

Matchweek 12

Fulham gained an absolutely vital victory over Sunderland with a Raúl Jiménez goal six minutes from full-time that significantly eased their fears of falling into the Premier League relegation zone.

Having begun the weekend just one point above the bottom three, they left it late before getting the only goal of the game for a win which was thoroughly deserved after an impressively dominant display.

The Cottagers scored from their 18th shot of the match and finished with a total of 24 attempts on goal, although solely six were on target, including four saved by Robin Roefs, all in the first half.

Finally, Jiménez was the hero at the Hammersmith End with his first Fulham goal since September to end his recent run of five games in the Premier League and Carabao Cup without scoring.

The 34-year-old striker had his spirits boosted when he found the net for Mexico in midweek, but he had only returned on Thursday from his international involvement and was just able to train lightly on Friday ahead of facing Sunderland.

Yet there is possibly at present no other forward in the top flight who could have got past the immense Northern Ireland defender Dan Ballard to put away the winning goal in the manner managed by Jiménez.

The two of them had an absorbing duel of their own, right from the early stages when an entirely fair but uncompromising tackle by Ballard on Jiménez burst the match ball and required it to be replaced.

10 minutes into the encounter a Jiménez header from Kevin’s left-wing cross set up Alex Iwobi for a spectacular overhead scissor-kick which, in the pouring rain, Roefs did well to get behind and hold on to.

Midway through the opening period the Sunderland goalkeeper twice had to make smart saves from Kevin, when Fulham’s record signing should really have scored, after being set up by Sander Berge both times.

In the space of three minutes, Berge sent Kevin clear by winning possession in the centre of the pitch, and then found him with a cross from the right for a far post header, but on neither occasion could the winger beat Roefs.

Berge himself tried too before half-time, with a long-range low shot which was well-read by the keeper, as the Fulham midfielder continued to run the game despite the absence of his usual partner, Saša Lukić, suspended for accumulated yellow cards.

Josh King and Harry Wilson likewise looked lively, once combining for a one-two with a King back-heel enabling Wilson to shoot, only for a Sunderland body to block the attempt, while other efforts flew off target.

Wilson’s confidence was evidently enhanced by his hat-trick earlier in the week when captaining Wales, but it was King who audaciously either side of the interval sought to break the deadlock with a couple of stunning strikes.

The talented teenager met an inviting cross with an improvised flick in mid-air, and subsequently shot from the halfway line when he saw Roefs leave his goal unguarded, but both times he missed the target.

Somehow Sunderland were still stopping Marco Silva’s side from scoring. But the second half introduction of Samuel Chukwueze on the left wing had a big effect on changing Fulham’s fortunes in front of goal.

The Nigerian international, on loan this season from A.C. Milan, relished running at an overworked and inevitably tiring defence. His direct and incisive play quickly started to create openings for teammates.

With time ticking away and Sunderland holding out, Chukwueze produced a beautiful left-footed low cross in the 84th minute which gave Jiménez the chance to slide past Ballard and finish first-time, securing three precious points for Fulham.

There was immense relief at bringing to an end the Cottagers’ awful autumn run of five defeats in their last six league matches, which had dropped them increasingly perilously down the table in recent weeks.

But it again underlined that the primary problem has been their away results. Fulham’s fine form at home has now provided 13 of the 14 Premier League points which they have collected during the course of the 2025-26 campaign.

This was the Cottagers’ sixth win in seven home games, and their fourth out of five in the league on the banks of the River Thames over the past three months, with the only exception being a single-goal loss to Arsenal.

Importantly, subduing Sunderland was achieved with their best performance since beating Brentford nine weeks ago. And the key was Berge’s superiority throughout over Granit Xhaka, to an extent that no one else had come close to this season.

Crumbling at Craven Cottage was the first time that the Wearsiders had lost to a London team on their high-flying return to the Premier League - in their sixth contest against a capital club, including the top two in the table, Arsenal and Chelsea.

The Sunderland starting XI was the same as the one which had drawn with the league leaders a fortnight ago and won at Stamford Bridge last month, taking them up into the top four. This was just their third defeat in the opening 12 matches.

Silva has not yet signed the new contract which he has recently started discussing with his employers, but successes like on this sodden Saturday over Sunderland will increase the likelihood of a satisfactory outcome for the club and its head coach.

Fulham: (4-2-3-1) Leno - Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon - Berge, Iwobi (Reed 89) - Wilson (Castagne 94), King (Smith Rowe 64), Kevin (Chukwueze 64) - Raúl Jiménez

Sunderland: (5-4-1) Roefs - Hume (Mayenda 90), Mukiele, Ballard, Geertruida, Mandava - Bertrand Traoré (Talbi 64), Xhaka, Sadiki, Le Fée (Adingra 90) - Isidor (Brobbey 64)

Attendance: 27,560