The Tanner Report: Fulham 2 Wolves 0
Not even the most pessimistic of Fulham fans – of which there are many – could find much fault in this performance as Fulham beat the league leaders. They might say that Wolves were lacking their best player Neves, bought for £15m, but you could see they are a well-drilled side with no obvious weakness.
Alex Mitrovic will probably get the Man of the Match accolade. Finally Fulham have a focal point of their attack. The 23 year old Serb on loan from Newcastle may not be fully fit but he has strength, an eye for goal and the type of centre forward Fulham have lacked since Chris Martin. He made the first goal when Wolves keep Ruddy parried his shot to the well-positioned Ryan Sessegnon to score. Just when Fulham needed a second Mitrovic worked an opening to fire home from outside the box.
25 years after the death of Bobby Moore we saw a performance from Tim Ream of which England’s World Cup winning captain would have been proud. Ream more than coped with everything Wolves could throw at the Fulham defence but like the majestic Moore played the ball out of defence with elegant effect. Stefan Johansen, Ryan Fredericks, Ryan Sessegnon (still just 17), Matt Targett and the tidy Kevin McDonald should also be proud of their performances.
I was critical of the rotation system and dropping Ryan Fredercks against Bristol City. The rotation system does keep players on their toes. Lucas Piazon’s game has dropped. He did not make the squad. Kebano normally an impact sub like Abou Kamara did not get on the pitch. Sheri Ojo did but he did not do enough so he could be the next victim.
The cycle of key games has not ended. We play Derby next Saturday away then Sheffield United at home and Preston away, all top ten teams. So far we have 7 points out of 9 against 3 teams in the top six (Aston Villa, Bristol City and Wolves) and despite the bitter cold there is a warm glow in Planet Fulham.
