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Inspired Iwobi delivers again
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Gavin recaps all the key action from Fulham's 3-1 over Brighton at Craven Cottage.
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Transcript
Introduction and Recap of Fulham vs. Brighton
00:00:02
Speaker
Every Club. Every Day. The Global Sports Podcast Network. work Welcome along, welcome back to the Daily Fulham Podcast. It's Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let the good times roll. Bit of a different Friday show in store for you today. Normally it's our match preview, but as Fulham played last night against Brighton, I will be reflecting on the events that took place at Craven Cottage. My name is Gavin Ruffle, and it's always good to look back on a win. So let's do that. So coming into this game, there were some selection headaches for Marco Silva.
Fulham's Lineup and Tactical Changes
00:00:37
Speaker
and what he would do in the centre of the park with players being absent, whether it be through injury or suspension. And we got our answer to that question. No, it wasn't Andreas Pereira after the saga that rumbles on. He was back involved in the squad, but it was actually Alex Thewobi who many people suggested ah could potentially get that opportunity to play more central in that eighth position.
00:01:03
Speaker
despite Amazon Prime having the graphics up that Harry Wilson was going to play in that position. No, it was actually Alex Orwoby, which was and wasn't a little bit of a surprise. I know Fulham had limited options there. They could have played Pereira, brought him in from the start. A bold move would have been to play Josh King, a young 17 year old who later went on to make his debut for Fulham in the Premier League in this game.
00:01:27
Speaker
but nobody walked off Alex of Woebe and the other change we saw was just a bit of rotation. It's a busy week, isn't it? With three games in the space of seven, eight days against high caliber opposition as well. So it was an opportunity, a rare start this season for Timothy Castaneda replacing Kenny Tete and Raul Jimenez at 33 years old. ah Maybe playing two games or three games in the space of eight days was just asking a bit too
First Half Highlights and Fulham's Early Lead
00:01:50
Speaker
much. Rodrigo Muniz came in to make his first start for a good two or three months.
00:01:56
Speaker
And Brighton also made some changes as well. The talismanic striker, their top scorer Danny Welbeck, he was out injured so there would be no knee slide. The only knee slide we got in this game was a full and found running onto the pitch.
00:02:11
Speaker
in front of the Brighton fans towards the end of the game. And they reverted to a back three, Lewis Dunk coming back into the team. And Brighton actually made a decent start for the first three minutes anyway, because the goal that Fulham got in the fourth minute was out of the blue, because Fulham barely had any possession in the Brighton half. It was just to get the way the game was going. Brighton settled into it well, and they were passing it well, passing it crisply.
00:02:40
Speaker
And then the goal, yeah, it comes out with a blue heavy-ish back pass from Igor to Vibrugen. And then for Bruggen, he's closed down high press and full. I mean, he's he's closed down to an extent by Harry Wilson, but not to the amount where he does what he does, which is inexplicable. And he just rolls the ball along the floor to Alex Owobi, who give him credit. He's alert. He's aware of what could potentially be happening. So he heek collects the ball just inside the penalty area.
00:03:13
Speaker
And then he's able to skip past one of the defenders and has the simplest of tasks, which is just to pass the ball into the net. Fulham 1-0 up, taking the lead again for the 10th time this season.
00:03:24
Speaker
And that's just the best possible start, isn't it? Ultimate nerve settler. but Yeah, I mean, we've seen Fulham in the lead before this season and it hasn't necessarily gone to plan. They almost actually doubled their lead a couple of minutes later. And we talk about Fulham being able to mix up their games. They can pass it around, play short, play out from the back, but also when the opportunity presents itself, they have the ability to go long, which is what Leno does here.
00:03:51
Speaker
Just hoofs it upfield, Rodrigo Muniz is competing with Lewis, don't, bit of an error from Lewis, don't ball force to the feet of a Wobi again and as he's running through on goal he ultimately gets closed down I think by Ego and Van Hecke. And so escape there for Brighton and to be fair to Brighton, they did have their moments, they were quite bright and did present a real threat to Fulham coming into this game Brighton and O'Lean lost two games this season and they were against Chelsea and Liverpool, so no shame and news in losing those two games. So it's just got them playing really well, playing how he wants them to play. And just like Fulham, they had scored in every game bar one this season. so
00:04:31
Speaker
you knew it wasn't going to be a simple case of take a goal lead and then that's pretty comfortable for the rest of the evening because it wasn't to be and they got their first opportunity which was from Joe Pedro who was playing he was playing in that main centre forward role in the absence of Danny Welbeck through ball from Van Hecke Pedro beats Bassey for pace he's a bit wide and Leno does well with with his angles to just block the shot bit of a tame effort in the end. But, yeah, Brighton were starting to dominate, not the game, they were dominating the possession. They had good attacking outlets from the left-hand side. I see Tim Fikastania coming into the team for his first start of the season, his first start in the Premier League. And it was a difficult first half for him coming up against the Stupanana, and Matoma, Matoma in particular, was putting a couple of good balls into the box with the outside of his foot.
00:05:24
Speaker
And as I said, yeah Brighton were quite neat and tidy in possession, barring the goal of course, and the big chance comes from that left-hand side crafted by
Brighton's Equalizer and Second Half Strategy
00:05:35
Speaker
Matoma. First of all, it's a ball from Igor Kostanja, it's caught out a little bit positionally, so Matoma's got some space, pulls it back, goes through a sea of bodies and there's Idinga, the other winger,
00:05:48
Speaker
who has a chance on goal, strikes at first time with his left foot, but Leno gets a strong right hand to it. And it was interesting with Brighton playing this three at the back and it was noticeable how Fulham's full backs, we normally expect to get forward a lot. They were limited and Marco Silva spoke afterwards in the game and how it's difficult to press at times. And you weren't seeing Anthony Robinson bombing up and down as you would normally see. So credit to Brighton, they may be that's something they looked at ah prior to the game.
00:06:18
Speaker
that back three how it can ask questions of Fulham. Rodrigo Muniz up front so it was interesting to see how he did and he is a pest that for defenders even if he isn't scoring goals and the goals have dried up for him recently.
00:06:32
Speaker
So it was an opportunity to show what he can do. And he's going to be in a tussle with defenders. They know they're going to be in the game with him. He showed some good strength, good goodo hold at play, bringing other players into the game ah in the first half. And that he did have a couple of chances as well. Heather's going wide, one from a corner, one from an Anthony Robinson cross.
00:06:52
Speaker
Again, credit to Brighton and the system. They played Reece Nelson. This is probably as quite the half of football as we've seen from him. Didn't make many touches at all. And yeah, as I said, brett Brighton looked pretty decent. They were unlucky to go in behind on the balance of play. They probably were slightly better in that half.
00:07:10
Speaker
but all to play for in the second half. Second half action in a moment, but first a few words about our sponsors. Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. Zencaster came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and AI editing automatically removes all those ums and ahs, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently.
00:07:35
Speaker
If you're ready to tell your story, check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencaster. So, game was definitely not over bright and have had a habit this season of coming from behind. In fact, prior to this meeting, they hadn't actually lost a game where they conceded the first goal. and they've They've overcome deficits against Manchester City and Spurs, so this game was definitely lost not lost on them.
00:08:00
Speaker
And as we know, Fulham second behind Brentford in the table for throwing games, not throwing games away, because that' that's a bit harsh, but ah not being able to convert from a winning position because we know they have had a tendency to score that first goal. And they almost got the second goal straight from the restarts, literally five or six seconds after the kickoff. Ball comes to a world, being in the middle of the park, he says chip pass, float pass. Harry Wilson makes a real dart and run into the box.
00:08:28
Speaker
and He's found perfectly, sits up beautifully on the volley. The only unfortunate thing, it was on his wrong side. If this was on his left foot from the other side, then it would have been a better opportunity for him. He's on his right foot, strikes it first time, doesn't get clean enough, contact goes wide.
00:08:44
Speaker
And it was a strong start to the second half for Fulham after Brighton was starting to control the game probably for the last 20-25 minutes of the first half. It will be wizard the heart of things in that different position. Great play for Marco Silvers' half because you ask him to do a job on the left, on the right through the middle, he'll do it for you.
00:09:00
Speaker
and I was worried about him coming into this gameplay in that slightly deeper role about having less of an impact from an attacking standpoint. I was slightly concerned that they would lose that but they they weren't they weren't. He got the got the opening goal and he was starting to pull the strings in that middle middle of the park.
00:09:16
Speaker
A big opportunity for Brighton from a corner. It's an O'Reilly corner and Van Hecke is three, about six yards out and heads over. He should be hitting the target there. Great opportunity to level it for one-one. But they do get the equaliser and this is a well-worked goal to give them their credit. Van Hecke plays the ball forwards. Joe Pedro, this is a lovely touch. Got his back sort of at a 45-degree angle.
00:09:41
Speaker
And he just lays it off in the in the path of Belieber, who cuts across it with his left foot, first time strike, and it arrows into the bottom corner away from Leno. So from that point on Brighton, fans are probably feeling they have the impetus, they've seen this unfold before, where they've come from behind in games to go on and win.
00:10:00
Speaker
Whereas for them, no surprise. They haven't kept the clean sheet at home in a long time. I think going back to the 3-0 win against Spurs last season. So yeah, I mean, the fact that both teams going into this game had only failed to score once,
Fulham's Victory and League Standings
00:10:14
Speaker
it was no surprise. If you're a betting man and you had both teams to score, it was a pretty safe bet.
00:10:19
Speaker
and Brighton almost did get their noses in front but Anthony Robinson was able to make a block. An effort from Matt O'Reilly after a dangerous cross from Metoma who looked quite lively throughout the evening.
00:10:32
Speaker
And then Rhys Nelson pulls up injured with a hamstring. This is unfortunate, really. We know he's going to miss the game against Arsenal on the weekend, but Fulham were about to take him off. They were just waiting for the ball to go out of play. Adama Truaro was ready to come on, Andreas Pereira was ready to come on. Nelson gets the ball high up the pitch and then he just pulls up. It's unfortunate. Looks like a hamstring and it could potentially mean he's going to be on the sidelines for a few weeks, Marko Silva did end up making the change, but not how he had imagined it. And Pereira, spoken about his situation, ah what he said, what he didn't say, whether it was lost in translation, he put out that statement of course, but he was back in the fold here, not starting. And he got a frosty reception, ah which is no surprise, but I think it's probably time to draw a line on it now. and
00:11:25
Speaker
Let bygones be bygones. What's been said has been said and you just move on. He's he's a full-on player. So get behind the player now. And the best way for Andreas Pereira to turn around that crowd feeling, the feeling amongst the full and faithful is to put in good performances on the pitch. um There was a bit of a reshuffle for Brighton.
00:11:47
Speaker
playing that three at the bat they reverted to a four as Van Hecke came off and he was replaced by Tariq Blanti and then it finally happened it finally happened for weeks for months we've been talking about Fulham's inability to score from set pieces three kicks and corners 80 plus corners this season a lot of them from Andreas Pereira and no end product but finally it happened Even if it did come from a Brighton player, that's probably the only way they were going to score from a set piece was one of the opposition players and Matt O'Reilly coming through the Fulham Academy, Fulham Academy graduate. I'm sure we dreamed the scoring for Fulham in the Premier League, but probably, probably not like this.
00:12:29
Speaker
So yeah, Pereira comes onto the pitch and makes his italian the talent contribution with his corner there. And Josh King, which I'm sure a lot of Fulham fans will be delighted to see. you I made the mistake. I had for some reason thought he had actually got off the bench in the Premier League before, but it was actually only in the league cup. So this was actually his Premier League debut at 17 years old. Hopefully the first of many games in the Premier League, hopefully first of many games in the Premier League in a Fulham shirt.
00:12:59
Speaker
And Marco Silva showing a lot of faith in him there to give him the last 10, 15 minutes. I know Fulmer depleted in position this position with several players out, ah but it's easy to think that we've got 17-year-old lad here. The game's still alive here at 2-1. It's not done. We might just hold off on this substitution. But no, he's showing the belief in him there to give him the last 10, 15 minutes. And yeah, great for him, great for his family.
00:13:24
Speaker
Evan Ferguson as well. There has been some rumours about him maybe a potential move away in January, Fulham being one of those teams rumoured or links with him. He came on for the last 10 minutes and Fulham, they were able to calm any news there may have been for the last few moments of the game as Alex Alobi made it 3-1. His second goal of the evening capping a man of the match performance I think what needs to be highlighted in this goal is the role that Sander Berger actually plays, which might have been lost. So I want to highlight him being able to win the ball back high up the pitch. And ultimately it comes to Anthony Robinson. Robinson plays a ball into Alex the Willoughby, left hand side of the box. He's up against Evan Fuchs and he spins Evan Fuchs and then he just curls it into the bottom corner, pass to the Broogan. 3-1, clincher, game set and match.
00:14:17
Speaker
Everyone breathe, that's another win for Fulham. Important to bank back after a bit of a shocker they had in the last home game against Wolves. Let's come back here and see all the three points there.
00:14:29
Speaker
And that win means that Fulham leapt from 12th to 6th in the table, such as the congested nature of the league that they were able to jump at six positions over the course of that night. And before I draw a line under this game and give an overview of where this leaves Fulham, allow me to tell you about GSPN.
00:14:49
Speaker
The Global Sports Podcast Network is changing the face of football podcasts with dedicated daily content for every Premier League team, women's football, fantasy football and a daily Premier League rapid broadcast in five different languages. It's your one stop shop for your daily football fix. Find GSPN wherever you find your usual podcast.
00:15:09
Speaker
Yep, so three goals, three points, and that was only Brighton's third defeat in the league under Hertzler, with the other two being Chelsea and Liverpool. It wasn't the most scintillating performance, if we're being honest. We saw a different side ah for them in this game, comparing it to the weekend where they were good against Spurs and weren't lucky not to come away with the three points. If Tom Kearney didn't get that red card, who should say they they wouldn't have gone on to win the game?
00:15:38
Speaker
But it makes a change because there's been so many games this season where we've seen Fulham dominate, have lots of shots on goal, ultimately lacking that clinical edge. On this occasion, maybe it was the other way round, the statistics will tell you that Brighton, whilst I don't think they dominate the game, they had more possession, they had more shots on goal. And on the overall balance of play,
00:16:00
Speaker
would you say Fulham definitely deserve to win? Maybe not on this occasion but it certainly makes up for other times where they have been completely dominant and that hasn't translated to three points. So up to six in the league and they absolutely deserve to be there don't they based on the performances we've seen over the course of the first 14 games and We're not at an early stage in the season now we're more than a third of the way through and it's very congested all the way down from Brighton in fifth to Manchester United down in thirteenth there's only four points separating those teams so it's a lot to play for if you win a couple of games you're up there if you lose a couple of that games
00:16:37
Speaker
You're not in a relegation scrap, but you're in the lower part of the mid-table. You don't normally see this at this stage when there's nine teams fighting it out for European places, although it's a long way to go to suggest that you know teams are vying for you European places. It will start to separate ah during the course of the next few weeks, and it's a busy period of time, isn't it now?
Injury Updates and Upcoming Matches Preview
00:16:59
Speaker
and Frustration that Reece Nelson picked up an injury there, especially as he was about to be called off.
00:17:06
Speaker
We know he can't play on the weekend anyway, but his availability for the rest of the year, you'd have to put in doubt if it is a hamstring injury. Marco Silva confirming that after the game that it is, that is looking like a hamstring, but it gives an opportunity to whoever plays. We saw Harry Wilson start his first game.
00:17:24
Speaker
which is fairly deserved based on his contribution, what we've seen coming off the bench recently. um So we got a lot of minutes in this game. So it might give him any opportunity to start again on the weekend against Arsenal and Rees-Nelson's absence. But you do have other options as well. You have a downward thrower who could potentially start as well.
00:17:44
Speaker
alexa woby Will he continue with this role in midfield? Probably not. I can see him playing, especially the fact that Nelson wasn't going to be available anywhere. I can see him going back going back to the wing for the next game. Probably to the left and Eva Wilson or Darmot Troyer on the right. Rodrigo Meniz coming into this game for a rare start. How did he do? I thought he did fine. I thought he did fine. i thought he define Missed a couple of headers, but airerily he was competing with tall defenders there. and
00:18:15
Speaker
I think against most defenders they know they're going to be in the game with him so we're probably back at that stage now where we don't know who the number one striker is. Will he go back to Jimenez against Arsenal and was it just a case of rotation or will he be impressed enough with that Rodrigo Moniz performance that he'll start him against Arsenal? I think he'll probably go back to Jimenez if I'm being honest.
00:18:38
Speaker
and Just the fact that Jimenez has been the one out of the two that has scored goals this season. I know he's not scored in his last two or three, but all you need is one. As I said before, whether it's off your backside, off your knee, whatever, a bit of luck here and there and it can make all the difference. Silver was honest enough to acknowledge in his interview after the game that it was a tough tough game. He was probably taken aback by the but Brighton system the fact that they went to free at the back and he said how difficult it was for them to press their wide players with them playing the free centre after. It took time for them to adjust. Second half was much better and they had a good reaction after the equaliser.
00:19:16
Speaker
So yeah, we are in the middle of a tough run for Fulham, but they've started it well, haven't they, with four points on the board from Spurs and Brighton, two extremely tough games coming up now, if you would say Liverpool and Arsenal are the two front runners for the title. Liverpool certainly haven't made an amazing start to the season, which would have been beyond anyone's expectations. So on a trip to Anfield, the weights in just over a week's time before that, they play Arsenal on the weekend.
00:19:42
Speaker
a game they had success in last season. They managed to come from behind in that game to to win 2-1 and dent Arsenal's title challenge. We'll look forward to that game very shortly. We'll have our crossover episode with the guys from the daily Arsenal podcast.
00:19:58
Speaker
and will have a match preview for that game which takes place on Sunday but Fulham go into that with confidence a spring in their step after this win against Brighton which continues their impressive record against them in the Premier League that's now nine and beaten against them and Brighton must be sick to death of playing Fulham now and wondering how they can't get a victory but because they've beaten every other team they've come up against in the Premier League all of the big boys but Whenever they came to Craven Cottage, they seemed to come out second best, even if the performance they put in probably didn't necessarily merit that. It was a performance on another day that might have got them at least a draw.
00:20:33
Speaker
But it didn't, and let's be fair, for them I've had games where the luck's not been on their side, where they've had late goals going against them. So it was about time they got a win that was not ground out, because I'm not sure how you can grind out a win when you you score three goals, but a win where they weren't necessarily the clear, a decisive better team.
00:20:54
Speaker
and look Brighton's a tough game for any for anyone. The league table doesn't lie, does it? And they they are fifth in the league for a reason and they've they've started impressively under Herzler. Well, I hope to continue to do that. And as the results have shown, they're a difficult test for a lot of teams. So good for Fulham to get this game out of the way and get back to winning ways at Craven Cottage after after the Wolves performance. So yeah, onwards and upwards. Neverland and Derby on the weekend. Fulham's recent record in London, Derby's is really good. So fingers crossed. All going well. That may be able to continue. Tough game of course, but one to look forward to.
00:21:34
Speaker
and we'll build it up to that game very shortly. There we go. A 3-1 win for Fulham on this occasion. Lift them up to the lofty heights of six in the league. Can they stay there? Tune in next time as we build up to that arse dogging. Every club, every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network. work