Jake Wilkin
Fulham striker Carlos Vincius scored his first goal at Craven Cottage as the Whites drew 1-1 with West Ham United in a friendly on Saturday afternoon.
Fulham’s return to the Cottage for the first time since the beginning of November saw Marco field a strong eleven against West Ham United. Some of our young Whites featured on the bench, including Alfie McNally, Conor McAvoy, and Callum McFarlane, who have impressed for our academy teams this season.
Fulham led the way in the opening minutes, working the ball forward into dangerous areas but weren’t able to test the Hammers’ ‘keeper, Lukasz Fabianski.
However, a well worked move, starting off with a neat backheel from Willian into the path of Tom Cairney, was fizzed into the box to be struck sweetly by Andreas Pereira, but Fabianski was equal to it.
Minutes later, West Ham had a chance of their own, with a ball whipped in nicely to Jarrod Bowen but fortunately, he was unable to connect with it properly and the ball whistled past the post.
Fresh from Qatar and as seemingly unfazed by the drastic change in temparature as he was at playing left-back on Saturday, Tim Ream had an effort from distance, a left-footed volley from 20 yards, fly just over the crossbar.
On the cusp of half-time, Fulham turned on the pressure, in particular Willian, who mustered a few ooos and ahhs from the Johnny Haynes Stand with his footwork and trickery.
The pressure eventually all came to fruition, when in the 42nd minute, Carlos Vinicius flicked the ball into the back of the net with his head from a ball whipped in by Kenny Tete. The forward’s movement got him in front of Craig Dawson and there was nothing that Fabianski could do from close range.
Into the second half and it was a change of goalkeeper for the Whites, with Marek Rodák coming in for Bernd Leno and he was quickly put to the test with a shot from inside the box delivered by Pablo Fornals but Rody pulled off a strong save to keep it out.
In the 62nd minute, Jarrod Bowen levelled the score when the ball fell to him after Flynn Downes won a tackle on the edge of the area.
The game settled following the equaliser with only half chances created by either side; TC’s audacious effort from outside the area the most notable of the batch.
A poor touch from Tosin was sprung on to by Said Benrahma and it looked like he was through on goal but Tosin got back to slow the move down before it fizzled out.
Searching for a winner, West Ham’s Pablo Fornals crossed in a ball to Tomas Soucek whose header called for a spectacular save from Rodák to put it over the crossbar.
The game finished 1-1 in Fulham's final friendly before a return to Premier League action on Boxing Day, away at Crystal Palace.
Fulham: Leno (Rodak 45); Tete, Ream (Mbabu 64), Diop, Adarabioyo; Reed, Cairney (Harris 83); Decordova-Reid (Wilson 74), Willian (James 64), Pereira; Vinicius.
Unused Subs: McNally (GK), Duffy, Chalobah, Onomah, McAvoy, McFarlane
Scorer: Carlos Vinicius 43 (Carlos Vinicius gives Fulham the lead with a header past Lukasz Fabianski from Kenny Tete's cross.).
West Ham United: Fabianski; Coufal, Emerson (Johnson 78), Dawson, Ogbonna; Soucek, Lanzini; Fornals, Bowen (Swyer 86), Benrahma (Mubama 86); Scamacca (Downes 12).
Unused Subs: Randolph (GK), Coventry, Ekwah, Ashby, Laing, Potts, Forbes.
Scorer: Bowen 62 (Jarrod Bowen levels the scores for the Hammers after a defensive error.)
Referee: John Brooks (Leicestershire)