Fulham march on as they defeat pluck Hull City on Humberside

Fulham continued their impressive form at the top of the Championship table as they put Hull City to the sword thanks to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s superbly taken header in a 1-0 win.

The visitors had not had their way on a miserable afternoon on Humberside as the rainy conditions prevented them from finding their usual passing rhythm.

With the home side paying too much respect to Fulham in the opening quarter, Hull could have found themselves 2-0 down as Harry Wilson missed two guilt-edged chances to put Fulham ahead.

Breaking through on goal from a deep pass out of defence, Wilson caught the City defence square and as he poked the ball past the outrushing Ingram, the Fulham forward could not find the composure required from a tight angle as he fired over the bar.

With Fulham again catching City out at the back, Wilson broke through but on the opposite this time. This time the Welshman cut infield onto his favoured left foot but Ingram got down well to his right to palm the ball away.

As the rain poured down, the middle of the pitch became boggy. City to their credit sensed the opportunity to scrape their way back into proceedings.

Led by George Honeyman and Richie Smallwood in the centre of the park, the hosts won ball after ball to press the visitors back. Although susceptible to the counter-attack, some tenacious tackling soon warmed the home crowd up.

Marcus Forss, who led the line up top for Hull, had an indifferent afternoon. Leading the line, he struggled to make any real impression on the Fulham defence as he often found himself isolated and chasing loose balls.

When Hull’s midfield were able to get further up the pitch to support him, the Dane showed he can link the play as he fed Honeyman in on goal just after the half-hour mark. Unfortunately for the Tigers, having taken a touch to progress into the box, the Fulham defence recovered to take the sting off his shot.

Whilst making the most of the soggy conditions in the middle of the pitch, City were always susceptible on the break and Fulham should have nudged themselves ahead after 37 minutes.

Wilson missed the third of his hattrick of chances which was arguably the worst of the lot.

As Fabio Carvalho manoeuvred himself to the City by-line, his cut-back took Hull’s defence out of the equation. As the ball fell perfectly to Wilson, on his left foot and 10 yards, the forward snatched at the chance and blazed high over the bar.

As Forss had managed to find some joy moments earlier, the City striker almost produced the perfect response to Wilson’s missed chance and open his goals account for the club.

Latching onto a poor back pass from Tim Ream, the force was not with the No.44 as he poked the ball past Marek Rodak but disappointingly wide of the far post.

A tackle from Regan Slater produced the cheer of the half as he was strong in a 50/50 dual with Fulham skipper Tom Cairney, which left the ex-City player dazed in the centre of the pitch much to the delight of the East Stand.

City was good value to be level going into the break, but inevitably the visitors turned up the pressure as the conditions began to subside.

Wilson combined superbly with Carvalho on the edge of the box but, as the youngster got a curling effort away on goal, Ingram was equal to the effort which he parried to safety.

Just a minute later, Fulham were ahead thanks to Mitrovic’s 31st goal of the season. Neco Williams found space on the right and his pinpoint cross was superbly met with a fierce header that nestled into Ingram’s bottom corner.

The travelling Fulham support went into raptures, taunting the home fans that their Serbian striker has scored more goals than they have as a collective this season – six more than the 25 City have mustered together.

It was Williams’ second assist since joining on loan from Liverpool and Fulham’s second clean sheet with him slotting into the right-back position.

City were not quite finished and through Keane Lewis-Potter they almost got themselves back into things.

Smallwood won a tremendous challenge and as the ball flew out to the diminutive forward, he cut infield to hit a fierce effort that Rodak did well to parry away to safety with Ryan Longman agonisingly only inches away from following up the rebound.

For Mitrovic, he revelled in his role of pantomime villain and his departure was greeted with a chorus of boos as he was replaced towards the end.

The victory on Humberside showed a new dimension to Marco Silva’s side as they coped with the conditions and City’s tenacity but were still able to create a host of chances to come away with the three points.

The Fulham manager said post-match: “We scored an important goal – a very good delivery from Neco and a fantastic finish from Mitro. We controlled the game well until the end of the match. Keeping the clean sheet was important for us as well.

“I’m really happy. It was always tough coming here in this weather, with this pitch as well. They wanted to react to the two defeats they had in the last two games. I’m really pleased for our players.

“These type of games show their winning mentality. I asked them for it before the match and they proved again they’ve got it.”

Following Hull’s crushing 3-1 defeat at Derby County in midweek, it was a spirited performance despite the Tigers missing the presence of Tom Eaves up top to disrupt the Fulham defence in the final 20 minutes.

However, there is cause for optimism that Forss could prove to be a vital signing with greater support as they look to allay fears of relegation.

Manager Shota Arveladze was pleased with his side’s efforts despite defeat, and felt they were unlucky not to take anything from the game.

Arveladze said: “Let me say, we are all disappointed. If we would have taken a point, I believe everyone would say we deserved that.

“That’s the identity of this team, the spirit and attitude they showed today. I’m proud of the boys, I give them a lot of credit for their effort and the supporters.”

Struggling for time to work on things on the training ground with the demands of the Championship, the Georgian manager at least had some positive news on the injury front.

He confirmed Tom Eaves and Ali Sayyadmanesh are not far from returning and could be available for the midweek Yorkshire derby at Sheffield United.

Given the run of defeats, City’s performance showed plenty of the characteristics that have defined their season so far.

Regan Slater picked up where he left off after his loan spell last season, and he had an excellent game in the heart of the midfield. He for sure will be relishing the trip to Bramall Lane on Tuesday.

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