A 2-0 win in Saturday’s crazy game at Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium may be the sign that Fulham’s luck is turning
Goals from Alex Kacaniklic and Seko Fofana at the beginning and end of the game secured what was only Fulham’s second win in 12 games, but those bare statistics don’t tell anywhere near the full story of a bizarre ninety minutes in between the two goals, which left both managers and most fans in attendance scratching their heads.
Fulham will take the victory knowing that it edges them a little closer to safety in the Championship table. With Rotherham losing in dramatic fashion and Wigan only drawing at home, Kit Symons’ men are now eight points clear of the relegation zone with seven games remaining.
Symons has had to battle with a sizeable injury list all season, and this was compounded during Wednesday night’s 3-0 home defeat to Leeds, when 12-goal top scorer Ross McCormack limped off the field against his former club. It was a game in which Fulham did everything but score, with 27 attempts on goal and eight on target, resulting only in a resounding but undeserved defeat.
However, Symons will feel his side more-than earned their luck in Saturday’s crucial win at Huddersfield. Even the opening goal – direct from a corner which two Huddersfield players failed to defend on the near post – had an element of luck to it, but Huddersfield also hit the woodwork twice as they laid onslaught to Fulham’s goal.
Then referee Richard Clark proceeded to send the wrong Fulham defender off when red-carding a deliberate handball which lead to a Huddersfield penalty. The mistake was corrected but Terriers’ forward Nakhi Wells then contrived to miss the first of two penalty attempts as Fulham finally saw things going their way.
Seconds after Wells had missed penalty number two, ten-man Fulham broke away and secured the three points with a counter-attacking goal from substitute Seko Fofana and the reaction of each manager to BBC Sport, neatly summarises the good fortune Fulham had experienced.
Huddersfield boss Chris Powell claimed: “This game never ceases to amaze me. After minute two and before minute 96 it was one-way traffic. We hit the post, hit the bar and missed two penalties. We just couldn’t get the ball in the net.”
Symons, for his part, agreed with his rival boss: “It was probably the most bizarre game I have ever been involved in. We scored at the beginning and at the end and in between Huddersfield were by far the better side.”
Fulham are now gearing up for a crucial run-in to the campaign in which they face both the teams immediately below them in the table – Rotherham and Wigan – in successive home fixtures in April.
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