Printable View
Was it just me who thought high boot? Dubravka had to back off to miss it?
Then a weak pen, don?t know why they take off Walker, but it exposed Laurent. Still soft though.
Positively was a good performance, Anthony having a go for the first time and Flemming looks a good tough 9
Awful ref and VAR decisions cost us today ,also their goalie made a world an d knew nothing about it..thought we were very unlucky today. Goalkeeping errors didn't help us. We deserved at least a point if not 3.
Dave’s just back from a trip to London, here’s his opinion from Craven Cottage.
Along with Bournemouth’s *****ity Stadium, Craven Cottage must surely rank as the Premier League’s most pastoral setting, nestling amidst park land and backing onto the River Thames glistening in the early spring sunshine, Fulham football club presented one with a laid back, almost mellow atmosphere when Burnley visited last Saturday.
The easy-going atmosphere was further enhanced by a concourse shared by supporters of both teams. Fulham’s fanbase, from affluent and well-heeled West London, being perhaps the most genteel and least demanding in the Premier League. With their team secure in mid-table, they could afford to treat the visit of Burnley benignly.
For the Clarets, fixtures against opponents in this position represented their best opportunity to pick-up points in their increasingly forlorn attempt to avoid relegation to the Championship.
Indeed, Burnley set about this task briskly, Jaidon Anthony and Quilindschy Hartman combined effectively down the left wing to provide goal-scoring chances in the first half, spurned by Zian Flemming whose first effort was repelled by the “supporting” arm of Fulham’s Bassey (at too close a range for a penalty, but the VAR verdict was bizarre) but perhaps should have done better than to direct a subsequent header straight into the arms of Leno in the Fulham goal.
Flemming atoned on the hour mark, however, meeting Lyle Foster’s pull-back with a first time shot into the roof of the Fulham net and put the Clarets a goal up.
At this point, Burnley looked to have the game more or less under control, but the match turned on an error from Martin Dubravka which allowed Josh King to nudge in an equalizer and from then on the home team took control against a visibly (and unforgivably) wilting Burnley team, whose defence parted to allow Harry Wilson the freedom of Craven Cottage and put the home team ahead.
Aside from a close-range Josh Laurent effort which he put over the bar and a Hartman shot which was turned wide of the post by Leno, Burnley offered little in the way of a counterpunch.
Fulham’s victory was sealed in stoppage time with a frankly soft penalty which cost Laurent a red card and a probable three game ban, scored by Raul Jimenez, whose skipping and shuffling dance routine en route to taking the kick will surely see him feature on a future series of Strictly Come Dancing.
For Burnley, this was a game which they allowed to slip from their grasp, having taken the lead, they retreated from the tactics which had served them well for the first hour and attempted to hold on to the lead, it was a policy destined to fail, and it did.
Reflecting on Burnley’s plight during my train ride home from Euston, it struck me that without a wholesale change in both leadership and philosophy, this group of players are now so damaged that even the Championship might represent too tough a challenge for them to compete in effectively.
Editor’s note: I’m on holiday in Fuerteventura and spoiled an afternoon in the sunshine watching my team on Spanish TV give up their hard-won place in the EPL with a whimper. The locals were not too impressed either.:blue: