MST

Match Report Cardiff City (0) 4-2 (0) Fulham vrs Fulham Premier League Match Day 09 1819 at Cardiff City Stadium Saturday 20th October    KO: 15:00 Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)

Fulham Striker Andre Schurrle

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In the end it felt so predictable. Twenty four hours after Neil Warnock admitted he would not put any money on Cardiff staying up, his players responded by picking up their first victory of the season to climb out of the bottom three at the expense of a Fulham side in freefall.

There was a mixture of jubilation and relief in the loud cheers that greeted the final whistle as the home supporters celebrated their first top-flight win since April 2014, ending a run of five successive defeats and breathing fresh life into their season. “You look at the dressing room and it’s like we won the league last year,” Warnock said.

Fulham’s players, in contrast, looked shell-shocked. Slavisa Jokanovic’s side have won one of their nine league matches and, most alarmingly of all, conceded 25 goals in the process. Twelve have been shipped in the past three games and Jokanovic has his work cut out to find a solution.

Fulham defender Ryan Sessegnon

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“The negative things kill us, we are not strong or solid enough in our box, we are conceding so easily,” the Fulham manager said. “It’s now mistakes from the beginning of the season.”

The sight of André Schürrle opening the scoring with a wonderful 30-yard strike that arrowed into the top-left corner should have given the visitors some confidence, yet they were an accident waiting to happen at the back and it was no real surprise when Cardiff struck twice in the space of five minutes to turn the game around. Calum Chambers, looking desperately uncomfortable at right-back, was at fault for the first of those two goals and withdrawn at half-time.

Cardiff, in fairness, deserve credit for exposing Fulham’s frailties. Josh Murphy, who scored their opener, was a constant threat on the left and Bobby Decordova-Reid, who registered his first goal for the club since joining from Bristol City for £10m in the summer, worked tirelessly as part of a three-prong attack.

Match Stats	Cardiff City	Fulham
Goals	(2) 4	2 (2)
Scorers	J Murphy 15	Schürrle 11
	Reid 20	R Sessegnon 34
	Paterson 65
	Harris 87
,
Goal attempts	22	9
On target	5	4
Shooting Accuracy	23%	44%
Possession	40%	60%
Passes	309	475
Passes Success	64%	77%
Crosses	22	9
Crosses Success	55%	44%
Corners	4	4
Tackles	13	17
Tackles Success	69%	55%
Saves	2	1
Fouls	15	16
Offsides	0	0
Yellows	3	3
Reds	0	0
source: SkySports

Callum Paterson was the focal point of that forward line and the makeshift striker – he joined Cardiff as a right-back – used his physical presence to unsettle Fulham throughout. His crucial goal midway through the second half was a case in point.

A goal feast had been on the cards from the start given the defensive records of the sides. Schürrle’s was the pick of the six, although that will be no consolation to Fulham, who will rue the way they allowed Cardiff to hit back immediately.

Chambers was caught out of position after carelessly giving the ball way and Murphy, running into the space that opened up on the Cardiff left, curled a right-foot shot into the far corner. In the blink of an eye Cardiff were in front when Decordova-Reid coolly converted after Schürrle lost possession deep inside his own half.

Although Ryan Sessegnon neatly dispatched Aleksandar Mitrovic’s clever first-time pass to bring parity with 34 minutes gone – he has scored in all five of his appearances against Cardiff – that was never likely to be the end of the scoring in a helter-skelter game.

So it proved as Paterson screwed a 12-yard shot inside the far post after several Fulham players had failed to clear Bruno Ecuele Manga’s cross from the right.

Fulham still carried a threat and would have been level but for a superb save from Neil Etheridge to keep out Alfie Mawson’s downward header. Any Cardiff nerves in the closing stages were then assuaged by the sight of Kadeem Harris, who had been brought on for Murphy, turning in Victor Camarasa’s low centre in the 87th minute.

Cardiff City: Etheridge, Ecuele Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Bennett, Camarasa, Gunnarsson ( Richards 77), Arter (Damour 86), J Murphy (Harris 82), Reid, Paterson

Unused substitutes: Smithies, Cunningham, Zohore, Hoilett

Goals:
J Murphy 15 (right footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Sol Bamba.)
Reid 20 (right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal.)
Paterson 65 (right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Bobby Reid.)
Harris 87 (right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Víctor Camarasa with a cross.)

Booked: Gunnarsson (33,f), Morrison (68,f), Bamba (78,d)

Fulham: Bettinelli, Chambers (Mawson 45), Odoi, Ream, Le Marchand, Johansen (Vietto 82), McDonald, Seri (Ayite 58), Schürrle, Mitrovic, R Sessegnon

Unused substitutes: Rico, Christie, Anguissa, Kamara

Goals:
Schurrle 11 (right footed shot from outside the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Jean Michael Seri.)
R Sessegnon 34 (left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Aleksandar Mitrovic.)

Booked: Chambers (19,f), McDonald (36,f), Johansen (45+3,f),

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)

Attendance: 29,681