Fulham 2-3 Crystal Palace
by Joseph Musa
at Craven Cottage

PREMIER LEAGUE London derbies at Craven Cottage have gone two for two in outright entertainment.

Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa said: “We didn’t deserve to lose, but in the end, we need to take our chances.”

Josh King struck from just inside the area giving the home side the lead in the 11th minute.

Dean Henderson looked like he would have saved King’s shot, but it took a deflection off Jaydee Canvot, beating Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

A few minutes later, Palace thought they had responded with a smart flick from Daichi Kamada after a brilliant outside of the foot cross by Yeremy Pino, the away end singing loud and proud… until VAR intervened for an ultra-tight offside call.

Bernd Leno then made a big save with his left hand from Chris Richards, as Palace pushed on for the equaliser.

Fulham then had a few chances of their own to make it 2-0, as the away side cleared their lines from an Oscar Bobb shot. Not long after, last-ditch defending by Canvot managed to block Cesar Palacios’s shot.

In-form Henderson made a very sharp save to deny Castagne as Palace held on during the spell of Fulham chances.

Just as Fulham’s academy graduate opened the scoring, Palace’s own academy graduate scored to equalise. Tyrick Mitchell rifled past Leno at his near post after being played through by Eddie Nketiah.

Fulham restored the lead a few minutes before half-time as one of the summer signings from Real Madrid got on the scoresheet, Henderson pulled off a great save, only for Palacios to score the rebound.

More great work in the build-up to the goal from Fulham’s star man Josh King.

The home side started off the second half on the front foot, with chances for Gonzalo Garcia, Palacios and King in the space of a minute, but to no avail.

And just like the first half, Mitchell equalised again. This time in the 54th minute.

Fulham striker Garcia did good work getting back to help his defenders only for his clearance to hit Mitchell, the ball rolled in as Garcia had another chance to clear but couldn’t connect while on the floor.

Arguably one of the weirdest goals you’ll see all season.

Fulham again had a spell of chances in quick succession, but didn’t score during this period which they came to regret.

Substitute Ben Chilwell came on for the double goalscorer Mitchell in the 74th minute and with his first touch, Chilwell gave Crystal Palace the lead by slotting into the bottom corner three minutes after coming on.

Palace managed to hold on, giving manager Pierre Sage his first three points and leaving Fulham with three straight league losses to start the season.

Eagles boss Sage stated his happiness with the second half response, after saying his side performed poorly in the first half.