LFL: FULHAM

This was a very disjointed, dirty game and whatever the deficiencies of the refereeing our poor passing and inability to convert great goalscoring opportunities were crucial. Fulham took two of their goals very well and as for their penalty I couldn’t figure out what was going on - and I don’t think I was the only one.

BEFORE

Things are going much better for us than I'd expected at the start of the season. Apart from our enjoyable foray into the F.A. Cup, we're eleventh and are almost certain to avoid relegation, which was our first objective, while a win today could move us up another three places. I think we're going to win too. I was at the away fixture in late November and we were below par that day but I think it'll be different this afternoon. Fulham are on a bit of a bad run and the atmosphere at the SoL can intimidate. I was very pleased to hear that Xhaka will be available and he'll give us a great boost. Kevin was a handful in the away game and we'll have to keep a close eye on him and stop him getting down the wing and putting crosses in. I'll be at the match and my match prediction is a 2-1 win for us.

I called in at ALS Towers on my way to the stadium for our traditional group-hug and while there I got the team-news. There were wholesale changes from the Oxford match with Ballard, Alderete, Sadiki, Angulo, Jocelin and Brobbey starting while O’Nien, Geertruida, Talbi, Mundle and Isidor were on the bench. Cirkin was nowhere to be seen so perhaps he’s injured. Xhaka was among the subs. I was in my seat in the Upper East Stand around 1.30. My friends’ match predictions were 2-0, 2-1 and 2-0. There was a tribute to life-long Sunderland fan George Baker (1932-2026) and a good round of applause throughout the stadium. The pitch was looking a bit rough.

THE MATCH

The sun was shining as we kicked off. We won the first corner of the game on five minutes but it was wasted. Next thing Mukiele was injured and play was held up for a couple of minutes but he was able to rejoin the fray. However, a few minutes later he was subbed for Geertruida. We hadn’t really got going in attack yet and Fulham had looked more incisive coming forward. In the fifteenth we got another corner on the left but it was headed clear. Another corner followed in the twentieth after a good sprint by Jocelin and this time we managed a shot but Brobbey’s effort was blocked. We had a penalty-shout when Angulo went down but referee Craig Pawson wasn’t having it and he proceeded to come in for a lot of stick from our fans. We got another corner and that was eventually cleared.

We were making quite a few errors when passing and also relying on a lot of long punts upfield. Berge was lucky to escape a yellow for another foul. Angulo was looking impressive with effective runs into their box down the left followed by low passes. We just needed someone to get on the end of one of them. Sadiki was also injured and play was held up for a while. Fulham won their first corner in the thirty-fifth and Alderete headed it out for a throw. Sadiki had recovered but then Jocelin went down injured for a while and had to be replaced by Mundle. Two forced subs in the first half!

Angulo won us another corner but when he took the kick himself it didn’t clear the first defender. Sadiki had a decent shot on target but Leno in goal held it. That was more like it anyway. Kevin was also down injured for several minutes and was finally replaced by Bobb so there was bound to be a good deal of added-time. Angulo won us another corner and this time we took it short and it created a more threatening chance. Seven minutes of added-time were announced. Angulo was fouled as he raced across the half-way line but the ref wasn’t haven’t it and allowed Fulham to attack, thus arousing more ire among our fans. Diarra had a long-distance effort that wasn’t far wide and it was at least good to see him having a go. It remained goalless as the half-time whistle went. With all those injuries it had been a very broken up half and we hadn’t created much in the way of attacks until the later stages. There was a lot of booing for Mr Pawson as the teams went off.

Kevin Kyle came on to make the half-time draw and he received a good ripple form the crowd. ‘Totally Wired’ by The Fall was played over the P.A. and I was pleasantly surprised to hear it.

As we kicked off again I still felt that we’d win it as I could see Angulo laying on a great pass for Brobbey to finish. We made a promising break in the forty-ninth but it ended disappointingly when a cross from the left was blasted a mile wide by Geertruida. Just after that a great move was thwarted when Brobbey’s pass was just intercepted. It got the crowd going at least. Next Mundle was put through with only the goalie to beat but he shot wide when it looked certain to hit the net. Fulham broke quickly and almost scored themselves but Roefs turned it over for a corner. When the corner came over from our right, Jimenez had plenty of time and space to head it into the net to put them ahead. He scored against us at their place too.

Next thing we conceded a free-kick to the left of our box and Roefs punched it clear before it went out for what I thought was a throw to them. However, there was then a period of considerable confusion before the ref made a VAR check and a penalty was awarded to Fulham with Brobbey receiving a yellow for good measure. Jimenez took the kick and put it into the bottom-left corner to make it 0-2. If the ref hadn’t been popular before all of that, he was now Public Enemy Number 1. In the sixty-second Angulo was booted and I could hear the thud way up in the stand but no free-kick was given. It took a while for Angulo to get up again but after going off for a while he was able to carry on.

As we entered the final quarter I wondered if we could fight back for a draw and I wasn’t feeling too hopeful. Next thing Brobbey slipped the ball to Angulo but his shot went just over the bar or was perhaps tipped over by Leno, as some thought. Anyway, Angulo should have hit the target. We took off Brobbey and brought on Isidor with Mayenda also replacing Angulo so we were going all out for it. I thought that was it but then Xhaka came on for Diarra to great applause all round. In the seventy-fourth we were awarded a penalty when Ballard was fouled by Sessegnon and Le Fee blasted it home to put us back in the game.

A great roar went round the stadium and I felt we could get that equaliser. The momentum was with us and a cross from the right by Mayenda was chipped by Isidor aand it went not far over. Fulham were still looking dangerous on the break and they won a corner in the eighty-second. We escaped when Berge chipped a shot just over the bar. A minute or so later we were well and truly caught on the break and Iwobi made it 1-3, precipitating an exodus of many home fans and a chorus of, “Is this a library?” by the away supporters.

Fulham made a triple switch with about two minutes on the clock but we’d made all of our changes and the game seemed well beyond us. I was surprised when nine minutes of added-time were announced and had mixed feelings, fantasising about us snatching two goals but also worried that Fulham could add to their tally. Not a great deal happened actually and it ended 1-3. Le Fee and Xhaka applauded the crowd and received a lot of applause themselves.