Match Report
Bristol City (0) 0-1 (0) Fulham AET
FA Cup Third Round at Ashton Gate
Saturday 8th January 2022 KO: 12:30pm
Referee:
Jonathan Moss (West Yorkshire)
|
Fulham progressed to the Fourth Round of the Emirates FA Cup courtesy of a battling 1-0 victory away at Ashton Gate on Saturday lunchtime.
After a goalless 90 minutes substitute Harry Wilson was on hand to curl in the only goal of the tie in the 14th minute of extra time.
Marco Silva rung the changes in his starting XI with a condensed January on the horizon, making a total of nine changes from the side that had tumbled to defeat against Sheffield United in December. With our clash against Reading in mind on Tuesday night Tosin & Fabio Carvalho were the only two names to retain their place.
It had been a miserable morning in the West Country with persistent rain plaguing the area from the early hours but as kick-off approached the skies cleared and conditions were perfect for a lunchtime Cup clash.
It was a sloppy and uneventful opening ten minutes from both sides, with neither outfit able to generate any fluidity in attack. The only half chance for Fulham fell to the feet of Domingos Quina but his effort from distance went well wide of the left hand post.
| Match Stats |
Bristol City |
Fulham |
| Goals |
(0) 0 |
1 (0) AET |
|
| Scorers |
- |
Wilson 105 |
|
| Goal attempts |
15 |
21 |
| On target |
8 |
5 |
| Shooting Accuracy |
53% |
24% |
| Possession |
57% |
43% |
| Corners |
12 |
9 |
| Saves |
4 |
8 |
| Fouls |
7 |
18 |
| Offsides |
3 |
1 |
| Yellows |
0 |
3 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: SkySports |
The scrappiness ensued and it was Bristol City who started to enjoy the lion’s share of possession and chances surfaced. After Chris Martin had fired a somewhat tame free-kick into the hands of Paulo Gazzaniga, Han-Noah Massengo went close with an ambitious volley from distance. At the other end Rodrigo Muniz was coming to terms with the physical ex Fulham centre back pairing of Tomas Kalas & Rob Atkinson.
In the 28th minute after some neat work on the edge of the Bristol City box by Nathaniel Chalobah, Bobby De Cordova-Reid lashed a shot into the side netting from a tight angle to the delight of the home faithful.
In the 39th minute Martin found himself played clean through after beating the Fulham offside trap. Thankfully, not renowned for his breakaway speed the powerful striker was pressured by Tosin at the last moment and his low strike was well saved by the alert Gazzaniga. A let-off for Fulham.
This chance proved to be the final moment of any significance in what a sub-part opening 45 minutes.
Ten minutes into the second half Rodrigo Muniz pounced on a fortuitous loose ball in the box and went airborne to unleash a vicious scissor kick. The effort thundered over the bar and the stalemate persisted.
With the match sleepwalking towards extra time Marco Silva made a triple substitution with twenty minutes to go. Muniz, Quina & Tyrese Francois off, Mitro, Neeskens Kebano and Harrison Reed on.
The changes did not have the desired effect and the match continued to stutter along & in the 79th minute Fulham were fortunate not to trail. A neat cross to the back post found an unmarked Callum O’Dowda in a sea of space. With Fulham players scrambling to get a block in the winger flashed a shot well over the bar.
Gazzaniga was on hand again in the 82nd minute to ensure the match remained level. After pushing Kebano off the ball in the box, Jay DaSilva had a chance to seal victory for the hosts from 6 yards out. The towering Argentine made himself big and closed the angle well to parry behind for a corner.
After five minutes of additional time the referee blew his whistle to send the match to extra-time.
Silva made a final two changes with the extra 30 minutes in mind. Tom Cairney and Harry Wilson were brought on for Carvalho & Chalobah.
Extra time saw Fulham begin to carve out some more time on the ball & in the 14th minute the deadlock was broken. A worked set-piece between Kebano & Wilson opened up some space for the Welsh international. With time and space to pick his spot, Harry swung in a delightful ball which eluded two unmarked Fulham attackers and Max O’Leary in the Robins net. The ball nestled perfectly at the back post and the travelling Fulham fans were in raptures.
With ten minutes remaining Cairney had the chance to seal the deal after winning possession in the Bristol City box. His trademark left-footed effort was excellently saved by O’Leary.
The tide had well and truly turned and in the 21st minute Kebano should have put the result beyond doubt. After being played clean through his low shot was again well saved by O’Leary and Mitro could only balloon his follow up over the bar.
Fulham held on and booked their place in the Fourth Round.
Bristol City: O'Leary, Atkinson, Kalas, Pring, Massengo, O'Dowda, King (Dasilva 71), Scott (Weimann 105), Benarous (Palmer 78), Wells (Conway 90), Martin (Semenyo 89)
Unused substitutes: Bentley, Wiles-Richards, Bell, Vyner
Fulham: Gazzaniga, Hector, Odoi, Adarabioyo, Bryan, Chalobah (Wilson 90), Francois (Reed 71), De Cordova-Reid, Carvalho (Cairney 86), Quina (Kebano 71), Muniz (Mitrovic 70)
Unused substitutes: Tete, Rodak, Ream, Robinson,
Goals:
Wilson 105 ( left footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the right to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Neeskens Kebano following a corner.)
Booked: Carvalho (19,f), Francois (65,f), Cairney (120,f)
Referee:
Jonathan Moss (West Yorkshire)
Attendance: xxxxx