The Tanner Report: Cardiff 0 Fulham 2
Alex Mitrovic has scored 26 of Fulham’s 64 goals this term and is top scorer in the Championship.
So when it was announced that he would not be playing because of a minor hamstring injury I was most concerned then I remembered that in the 5 games in his absence we have won 4 and drawn one.
His replacement Bobby Decordova-Reid is not a target man and has not scored in his past 17 games and has only 5 goals for our club.
Cardiff settled down the quicker. They might well have scored after keeper Marek Rodak spilled a long shot but Michael Hector saved the day with a miraculous recovery clearance.
Tom Cairney went close with a magnificent shot from distance.
Our second half performance was much more assertive and authoritative.
Josh Onomah scored a goal reminiscent of Ricky Villa’s in the Cup Final v Manchester City in 1981.
He won the ball on the edge of the box, spun dribbled past 3 defenders and showed enormous composure in the style of the great Jimmy Greaves to pass the ball into the net.
After that Fulham’s grip never lessened and Neeskens Kebano, with his 3rd goal in 3 games, flighted a free kick to give Fulham a 2 goal lead.
Cardiff manager Neil Harris, who was vocal all week in a war of words in which Scott Parker has not engaged, argued that the pressure is off his team but the reality is that if they do not score early this Thursday at Craven Cottage and it’s 0-0 at half time, Cardiff will have to take enormous risks to recover the deficit.
