Match Report Fulham (3) 3-2 (2) Huddersfield Town Championship Match Day 30 19/20 at Craven Cottage Saturday 1st February 2020    KO: 15:00 Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey)

Fulham keeper Marek Rodak

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Fulham climbed up to third place in the Championship with their third victory in four matches after surviving a scare to beat Huddersfield 3-2.

Bobby Decordova-Reid, Tom Cairney and Aleksandar Mitrovic had put Fulham 3-0 ahead and apparently out of sight by the 31st minute but Emile Smith Rowe and Steve Mounie made it 3-2 before the interval.

The visitors gave them an almighty scare and could have grabbed a point by the final whistle but Scott Parker's men held on to claim their 10th home win of the season and close the gap on second-placed Leeds to just three points.

Fulham were ahead after 10 minutes when Decordova-Reid, out on the left touchline, controlled a well-hit crossfield pass from Michael Hector and hooked the ball past makeshift Huddersfield right back Juninho Bacuna.

Striker Bobby De Cordova-Reid

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He then charged into the penalty area, sidestepped Richard Stearman and opened his body before shooting past goalkeeper Joel Coleman.

The home side doubled their advantage after 15 minutes. Right-back Cyrus Christie drove in a low cross and Fulham captain Cairney flicked the ball up in front of him and volleyed it on the turn past Coleman's right hand.

Huddersfield tried to get back into the game with some neat passing down each wing but their final ball came to nothing and they were 3-0 down on the half-hour to another well-worked goal.

Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney

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Cairney sent Joe Bryan clear with a lofted pass and the left back's low cross was met at the near post by Aleksandar Mitrovic, whose flick appeared to take a touch off Christopher Schindler on its way past Coleman and just under the crossbar.

It was the Serbian's 19th league goal of the season and marked his return after three games out with an ankle injury.

The Terriers reduced the arrears after 35 minutes when Schindler diverted Bacuna's free-kick into the path of Smith Rowe, and a combination of his shot and Denis Odoi's challenge sent the ball past Marek Rodak.

Their tails up, the visitors snatched another goal back four minutes later. Bacuna's through pass gave Smith Rowe the chance to cross from the right and Mounie bundled the ball in at the far post. It was the fifth shot on target in the match and all five had gone in.

Fulham Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic

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Huddersfield did their best to continue their revival after the interval and Rodak saved well from Karlan Grant on three occasions and then dropped onto an angled shot from Smith Rowe.

Chances for Fulham were now rare and substitute Aboubakar Kamara drove the best one high past the near post after 78 minutes.

That left the home side hanging on in the dying minutes as Huddersfield attacked in waves. Frazier Campbell's deflected shot almost gave them what would have been a deserved leveller and Elias Kachunga put a chance over the bar in the fifth of six minutes of added time.

Fulham's Scott Parker: "First and foremost the result is key and I'm pleased with that. But take your foot off the pedal and take liberties, or go against what has got you 3-0 up, and in this division or in any football match it can come back to bite you. We dropped our intensity and it felt as if the game had become too easy for us.

Match Stats	Fulham	Huddersfield
Goals	(3) 3	2 (2)
Scorers	De Cordova-Reid 10	Smith Rowe 35
	Cairney 15	Mounie 39
	Mitrovic 31
,
Goal attempts	10	12
On target	3	8
Shooting Accuracy	30%	67%
Possession	57%	43%
Passes	483	361
Passes Success	84%	73%
Crosses	14	18
Crosses Success	50%	17%
Corners	2	6
Tackles	15	22
Tackles Success	67%	45%
Saves	6	0
Fouls	12	10
Offsides	1	0
Yellows	4	1
Reds	0	0
source: SkySports

"For 31 minutes I thought we were sensational. But the bits in between were poor and I didn't like us one bit. If you see out the game there is some positive there, but we are a young team and we need to learn from today. One positive was that we did hang on. Earlier in the season that might have ended in a draw."

Huddersfield's Danny Cowley: "We started well but they scored from their first attack. Then they scored with their second and third attacks and you are shell-shocked. Fulham are a wonderful football team but they only had three shots on target the whole game. They have not carved us apart by any stretch of the imagination.

"At 3-0 down to a Fulham in free-flow you can easily go under and we didn't. I thought we were resolute and showed determination and grit. Defeats don't do anything for me but the process was good. We didn't have many chances against us and there were seeds in our attacking play. I'd like to think that people can start to see an identity. Today was probably our best performance with the ball."

“Today was probably our best performance with the ball.”

Fulham: Rodak, Christie, Hector, Odoi, Bryan, Onomah, McDonald (Arter 62), Cairney (Johansen 76), Cavaleiro (Kamara 57), Mitrovic, De Cordova-Reid
Unused substitutes: Bettinelli, S Sessegnon, Kebano, De La Torre

Goals:
De Cordova-Reid 10 (right footed shot from the left side of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Michael Hector.)
Cairney 15 (right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Cyrus Christie with a cross.)
Mitrovic 31 (right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the top left corner. Assisted by Joe Bryan with a cross.)

Booked: McDonald (48,f), Christie (82,f), Rodak (90+2,tw), Johansen (90+4,f),

Huddersfield Town: Coleman, Bacuna, Stearman, Schindler, Toffolo, Chalobah (King 82), O'Brien, Kachunga, Smith Rowe (Pyke 89), Grant, Mounie (Campbell 76)
Unused substitutes: Chapman, Stankovic, J Brown, Duhaney,

Goals:
Smith Rowe 35 (right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner following a set piece situation.)
Mounie 39 (right footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Emile Smith Rowe.)

Booked: O'Brien (38,f),

Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey)

Attendance: 18,013