Match Report
Fulham (1) 1-1 (0) Leicester City
Premier League Match Day 15 at Craven Cottage
Wednesday 5th December 2018 KO: 19:45
Referee:
David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
|
Fulham’s progress under Claudio Ranieri is being measured in small steps forward at present.
The Italian and his players departed this tight contest vaguely dissatisfied to have only taken a point having led Leicester City, a team with top-half credentials, through much of the second half.
The stalemate ensure they remain with the weight of the division bearing down on them.
Yet, in time, this may end up as a point well gained.
It was hard to feel that way as Denis Odoi, alone beyond the visitors’ ramshackle backline, scooped a shot over the bar in stoppage time at the end, but everything needs context.
Leicester, too, could point to Vicente Iborra planting a free header wide six minutes from the end or Demarai Gray spitting away an even later shot which forced Sergio Rico to save.
In truth, the point was to be cherished by both.
Fulham will reflect on a much improved display, one which allied bite with defensive nous for long periods, as evidence they are moving in the right direction.
There is promise to be found in this new partnership.
| Match Stats |
Fulham |
Leicester |
| Goals |
(1) 1 |
1 (0) |
|
| Scorers |
Kamara 42 |
Maddison 74 |
| , |
| Goal attempts |
25 |
13 |
| On target |
7 |
5 |
| Shooting Accuracy |
28% |
38% |
| Possession |
46% |
54% |
| Passes |
314 |
382 |
| Passes Success |
67% |
67% |
| Crosses |
24 |
21 |
| Crosses Success |
29% |
24% |
| Corners |
10 |
8 |
| Tackles |
7 |
14 |
| Tackles Success |
71% |
36% |
| Saves |
4 |
6 |
| Fouls |
12 |
7 |
| Offsides |
2 |
2 |
| Yellows |
0 |
0 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: SkySports |
Ranieri had paid tribute to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha – “his desire, commitment and vision made the fairytale possible” – under whose chairmanship he had claimed the only top-flight title of his nomadic managerial career.
A quartet of key players from that successful Premier League campaign had started this game with the Italian acknowledging this as an emotional reunion.
However Ranieri was all too aware his new side’s predicament decreed this was no time for sentimentality.
By the interval, his team would have a lead upon which to cling.
At times, that scenario had felt unlikely.
Fulham have sacrificed some of the attacking verve that had lifted them back to this level but, while they heaved to contain City, the better opportunities were initially eked out by the visitors, invariably via James Maddison’s shrewd delivery.
It had been the young playmaker who dispossessed Jean Michaël Seri early on to slip Kelechi Iheanacho through, only for the onrushing Rico to block the striker’s cheeky attempt at a chip with his chest.
It was tempting to wonder if the injured Jamie Vardy, who was watching on from the stands, might have been more ruthless from such a clear opening.
The Spanish goalkeeper would excel in denying Wes Morgan before the break, with the centre-half also wasteful in planting a free header over the bar.
Yet Fulham were competing and steadily began to squeeze out opportunities of their own.
Kasper Schmeichel did wonderfully well to turn aside Callum Chambers’ stinging volley – a save that defied belief given how viciously the shot was belted through a cluttered six-yard box – but the hosts would not be denied, even if their goal came from an unlikely source.
Aboubakar Kamara had provided the chaos factor out on the flank, disconcerting more with his upper body strength than any skill on the ball, until three minutes before the break.
The Frenchman barged on to Alexandar Mitrovic’s flick and went beyond the erratic Caglar Söyüncü to reach the byline, spinning on the loose ball while the defender slid off the pitch having anticipated blocking a left-footed shot.
Kamara calmly took a touch and, from an unkind angle, fizzed his finish through Schmeichel’s legs and into the far corner.
It was a goal to lance the tension and fluster the visitors.
Leicester’s earlier poise was wrecked while Fulham, dare it be said, appeared organised and resolute with a lead to defend upon the restart.
They had a measure of control: the hosts were aggressive down the flanks, Chambers thriving in his new defensive-midfield brief and Mitrovic disconcerting his markers.
Leicester’s frustration, in contrast, mounted by the minute as they were forced ever further back.
The hosts’ substitute, Tom Cairney, might even have doubled the lead having exploited space on the edge of the area only to skim a shot wide with Schmeichel flat-footed.
That miss swiftly felt critical.
The visitors had appeared increasingly disjointed and disheartened, but their substitutes, Gray and Shinji Okazaki, would inject both quality and urgency.
That pair combined slickly down Leicester’s right with the latter, allowed space by a disorientated Alfie Mawson, pulling the ball back to the unmarked Maddison on the penalty spot.
His finish was crisply dispatched first-time into the bottom corner to ensure Fulham’s pursuit of a first clean sheet of term would be extended.
Fulham: Rico, Christie (Ream 84), Odoi, Mawson, Le Marchand (Bryan 77), Chambers, Seri, Kamara, Vietto (Cairney 45), R Sessegnon, Mitrovic
Unused substitutes: Bettinelli, Kebano, Schürrle, Zambo Anguissa
Goals:
Kamara 42 (right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Aleksandar Mitrovic.)
Leicester: Schmeichel, Simpson (Okazaki 72), Morgan, Soyuncu, Chilwell, Mendy (Iborra 71), Wilfred Ndidi, Albrighton, Maddison, Diabate (Gray 55), Iheanacho
Unused substitutes: Ward, Ricardo Pereira, Fuchs, Knight
Goals:
Maddison 74 ( right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Shinji Okazaki.)
Referee:
David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
Attendance: 22,881