Emile Smith Rowe and Harry Wilson were on target in either half as Fulham triumphed 2-0 against 10-man Crystal Palace on Saturday.
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Croydon-born Smith Rowe broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time, taking Raul Jimenez’s pass into his stride before finishing past Dean Henderson at Selhurst Park.
The midfielder had another goal ruled out in the second half for offside before Daichi Kamada’s 76th-minute red card for a poor challenge on Kenny Tete made matters worse for the hosts.
Wilson, Fulham's two-goal hero against Brentford on Monday, made sure of all three points with seven minutes remaining, before he had a stoppage-time effort disallowed.
This second consecutive win in a London derby propelled Marco Silva's side into sixth place, among a cluster of teams on 18 points – 11 more than Oliver Glasner's team, who remain 17th in the table.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 |
Brighton
BHA
|
12 | +5 | 22 |
| 6 |
Spurs
TOT
|
12 | +14 | 19 |
| 7 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
12 | +2 | 19 |
| 8 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
| 9 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
11 | +2 | 18 |
How the match unfolded
Fulham dominated the opening stages as Reiss Nelson was denied by Henderson, while Maxence Lacroix’s well-timed sliding challenge stopped Smith Rowe soon after.
Henderson produced another impressive stop to keep out Alex Iwobi’s fierce volley, though Joachim Andersen was required to clear Jean-Philippe Mateta’s header off the line at the other end.
Andersen's intervention proved crucial on the stroke of half-time when Lacroix’s loose pass led to Jimenez feeding Smith Rowe in the second minute of stoppage time, with Henderson only able to parry the shot into the bottom-right corner.
Smith Rowe thought he had doubled the visitors’ lead when he swept home Iwobi’s cross on 52 minutes, but his goal was overturned following a VAR review.
#CRYFUL – 51’ VAR OVERTURN
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) November 9, 2024
Smith Rowe’s goal was initially awarded on-field. VAR checked and confirmed that Smith Rowe was in an offside position and recommended that the goal was disallowed. pic.twitter.com/mOFjbxNQON
Palace’s quest for an equaliser became more difficult from the 76th minute, when Kamada was dismissed for a high challenge on Tete.
The Cottagers capitalised on their numerical advantage as Wilson latched onto Iwobi’s sublime through-ball and slotted home, before the forward had another strike overturned by the VAR.
Palace's unbeaten streak halted
The home side appeared to be heading in the right direction, having avoided defeat in each of their three previous matches across all competitions.
Without the likes of Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton, Eddie Nketiah and Jefferson Lerma, Glasner was forced to rotate his starting line-up.
The Palace boss gave a Premier League debut to Justin Devenny, in the absence of the suspended Will Hughes, and the 21-year-old acquitted himself well in the middle of the park.
Although the Eagles had a higher Expected Goals (xG) during the first half of 0.99 compared to Fulham’s 0.56, they could only generate a single shot on target, and headed into the break behind.
Palace had failed to win any of their nine previous Premier League games when conceding first, and they struggled to create chances for an equaliser after the break.
Any hopes they did have of forcing their way back into the contest were severely hampered when Kamada’s late challenge was punished by referee Michael Salisbury, who produced a straight red card.
Their opponents capitalised on the dismissal to put the contest to bed and Palace will now head into the international break nervously looking over their shoulder, with 18th-placed Wolves now just one point behind following their win over Southampton.
Fulham make top-four surge
Only goal difference is keeping Fulham outside the top four, and they will remain in sixth place if Aston Villa lose at Liverpool in Saturday's late fixture.
Fresh from their best start to a Premier League season in 21 years – 15 points from ten games – Silva’s side looked confident and threatening every time they went forward.
The Cottagers did have Andersen to thank on his first return to Selhurst Park since his August transfer from Palace, with the defender thwarting Mateta's goal-bound prod.
However, Fulham certainly made the most of that let-off when breaking at pace with their counter-attacking move culminating in Smith Rowe's driven finish.
Fulham’s advantage never truly looked under threat from then on, and it looked more than likely they would double their lead, doing so thanks to a familiar hero.
Wilson may have counted himself unlucky to be on the bench again as Silva opted for an unchanged side, but once again he proved his worth from the bench here.
The Wales forward grasped his opportunity with a well-taken goal to wrap up the victory, and will hope that earns him a start when Fulham resume after the international break with a home game against Wolves.
Club reports
Crystal Palace report | Fulham report
What managers said
Oliver Glasner: "Today, it's easy to sum up the game. Fulham were the better team. They were very aggressive, played very direct with a lot of pace in their attacking. Then we made too many mistakes. When we had situations maybe to come back into the game, we didn't take them. Then, the red card: again, a mistake we made. I think it's the first game this season, maybe, where we deserved to lose the game."
Marco Silva: "We deserved the three points. Throughout the game I think we were clearly the best team. The only thing I would like to see more is we should have created more clear chances. It's something we have to keep working on. It was a great team performance, I think we were really mature throughout the game."
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Key facts
Fulham have won six of their last 10 London derbies in the Premier League (W6 D3 L1), one more than in their previous 49 such matches (W5 D9 L35). The Cottagers have never been on a longer unbeaten run in derbies in the competition.
Fulham have kept a clean sheet against Crystal Palace in each of their last four away league matches, and have never gone on a longer run against an opponent without conceding an away goal in the league.
Fulham’s Harry Wilson has scored in consecutive Premier League games for just the third time, while four of his last six goals in the competition have come as a substitute. Indeed, only Collins John with four has netted more goals a sub for Fulham in a single season than the Welshman has this term (three).
Crystal Palace are winless in six league matches against Fulham (D4 L2), their longest run without a victory against the Cottagers since September 1985 (12 matches).
