Fulham defeated Rotherham United by a goal to nil as we got our Emirates FA Cup campaign off to a winning start at Craven Cottage.
A first half low on incident was lit up by a Bobby De Cordova-Reid piledriver in the 24th minute.
Andreas Pereira then hit a post, and visiting goalkeeper Viktor Johansson made a terrific stop to deny Tosin after the break, but no more goals were forthcoming as the Whites confirmed their place in Monday’s draw for the Fourth Round.
Despite making eight changes, it was still a strong starting XI named by Marco Silva – Timothy Castagne, Tosin and De Cordova-Reid the three who also began the New Year’s Eve victory over Arsenal.
Fulham were dominating possession in the first quarter of the game, seeing 85 per cent of the ball, but were struggling to create really clear cut chances against a deep Rotherham outfit.
The visitors, therefore, will be frustrated with how the opener came about, when Harry Wilson caught Sebastian Revan in possession in his own area with a firm tackle. The ball then dropped kindly to De Cordova-Reid who absolutely leathered his shot into the net from 20 yards.
Match Stats |
Fulham |
Rotherham |
Goals |
(1) 1 |
0 (0) |
|
Scorers |
De Cordova-Reid 24 |
- |
 , |
Goal attempts |
21 |
3 |
On target |
4 |
0 |
Shooting Accuracy |
19% |
0% |
Possession |
66% |
34% |
Passes Success |
91% |
76% |
Corners |
12 |
0 |
Tackles Success |
50% |
79% |
Saves |
0 |
3 |
Fouls |
10 |
7 |
Offsides |
0 |
2 |
Yellows |
0 |
0 |
Reds |
0 |
0 |
source: SkySports |
The Millers had the ball in the net a few minutes later when Tom Eaves’ misdirected shot was turned in by Jordan Hugill, but it was immediately ruled out for offside.
More high pressing from Wilson won another turnover in possession for the Whites and created a chance for Rodrigo Muniz, who couldn’t get his long range strike on target.
It looked certain to be 2-0 a few minutes before the break. First, Andreas’ caressed effort from Kenny Tete’s centre came back off the post, with Harrison Reed’s follow-up blocked by Revan.
The second half began with a firm Andreas free-kick which didn’t quite drop in time to trouble Johansson, and a slick move down the left which culminated in Reed seeing his low first time strike deflect behind.
From the corner, Wilson stung the palms of Johansson with a swirling strike from distance as we kept the pressure on.
Johansson was much busier in the second half, showing good reactions to beat away Tosin’s header from an Andreas corner just before the hour mark.
A barnstorming run from Issa Diop saw him continue his foray into the box after feeding Castagne to his left, but he could only poke wide after receiving the return pass from the Belgian.
Substitute Tyrese Francois – making his first senior appearance since August, having picked up an injury while with the Under-21s – got his volleyed connection from a Tete delivery on target, but too close to Johansson.
Fellow substitutes Willian and Carlos Vinicius almost wrapped things up in the final minute of stoppage time, but the latter could only roll his shot into the grateful arms of Johansson after his teammate had broken from a Millers corner.
It had not been a match for the history books, but the job was done and Fulham were in the hat for Round Four.
Fulham boss Marco Silva: "Job done, which was the most important thing for us really. Professional performance, we clearly deserved to go through in the competition.
"It was our obligation to control the game the way we did, to not give almost anything for them. I don't remember one save from Marek, no shots on target from them.
"When you make eight changes from one XI to the other, of course it always has an impact from a performance point of view.
"We always had the possession, I think until the first goal probably more than 80 per cent of possession, [but] not many chances to be honest. But we scored, we created three or four chances to score more goals, and [gave] nothing for them."
Rotherham boss Leam Richardson: "You are always disappointed when you lose. Congratulations to Fulham. We wish them well in the next round. For large parts we contained them. We did the best we could. You could see from the substitutes they brought on, the quality that they have.
"In the second half, we were better and we got up the pitch a little bit. We have then got to have those moments of quality in the final third. We have got to better with the ball at times. We wanted to create a better quality of chance and take the game further up the pitch but that will come with more time on the training ground to work with each other."
Fulham : Rodak, Tete, Tosin, Diop, Castagne (Robinson 82), Reed (Cairney 74), Lukic, Wilson (Willian 74), Pereira (Francois 82), De Cordova-Reid, Muniz (Vinícius 73)
Unused substitutes: Jimenez, Benda, Palhinha, De Fougerolles
Goals:
De Cordova-Reid 24 (right footed shot from outside the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Harry Wilson.)
Rotherham United : Johansson, Lembikisa (Appiah 81), Odoffin, Morrison, Revan, Bramall (Peltier 55), Lindsay, Clucas (Tiehi 64), Cafu (Rathbone 64), Eaves (Nombe 64), Hugill
Unused substitutes: Kelly, Bola, Phillips, McGuckin
Referee:
Dean Whitestone (Northamptonshire)
Attendance: 15,083
Fulham's next game is on Wednesday when they travel to Liverpool for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, live on Sky Sports; kick-off 8pm. Marco Silva's side then go to Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday January 13; kick-off 12.30pm.