When you win a game 5-0, it is unlikely you can top it, or at least equal it. But that is what Marco Silva’s Fulham did in the Premier League this weekend. Craven Cottage hosted both Nottingham Forest and West Ham in the space of four days, with Fulham coming off a devastating late defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
Upon the full-time whistle in a barmy 4-3 win for Liverpool, despite defeat, Fulham had recorded six goals in two games after a late 3-2 win against Wolves. They had only scored ten league goals in 12 games up until that point.
Next, Fulham hosted Nottingham Forest with both sides desperate for a win to take them further away from the relegation zone. Marco Silva’s side were on 15 points, whilst Forest sat on 13. Tom Cairney who had featured in the previous two games, was given a starting role in midfield, sitting just in front of their tackling maestro Joao Palhinha.
Fulham’s 5-0 demolishing of Steve Cooper’s side came from a combination of midfield control and deadly finishing. A brace from both Alex Iwobi and Raul Jimenez helped Fulham take the game away from their visitors, before Tom Cairney sauntered through and calmly added a fifth, a perfect night’s work for Marco Silva’s team. Forest looked abject and disjointed, almost disinterested. It felt far too easy for Tom Cairney to control the game, pick his passes and create dangerous attacking phases of play.
Steve Cooper was left embarrassed after the Forest fans serenaded him at the full-time whistle. A sheepish Cooper could only gesticulate an apology for a less than impressive performance. Fulham had some breathing room and budged themselves up to 12th in the standings. Not only that, 11 goals in the last three games and a first league clean sheet since September.
West Ham made the short trip to Tottenham the following evening, and from behind beat Ange Postecoglou’s side following a second half masterclass in how to defend the box and make the most of chances on the counter attack.
There were green shoots for both Fulham and West Ham heading into their fixture, and a feel-good factor around both camps. West Ham started on the front foot and in similar fashion to the previous game, Fulham took their time to get going. After James Ward-Prowse and Jarrod Bowen had been denied by Bernd Leno, Fulham sprung into life. Palhinha’s delicious cross met the head of Jimenez for his third goal in two games and a fourth of the campaign.
From there, it was like a carbon copy of the win against Forest. This time Fulham were 3-0 up at half time thanks to goals from Willian and Tosin. David Moyes and West Ham were shellshocked. Harry Wilson made it four with the pick of the bunch, a wonderful curling effort for his 50th career goal. The Welshman then went on to set up Carlos Vinicius to make it ten goals in two games with no reply.
Marco Silva labelled the win against West Ham as the ‘better performance’ than the previous 5-0 win. Fulham had even more control in this game. An unchanged starting eleven was named and it seemed as if West Ham had not done their homework on tracking the likes of Cairney and Andreas Pereira. The former, like on Wednesday night having the freedom of Craven Cottage to carve out openings for his teammates.
An extraordinary week for Fulham. A gut punch of a loss against Liverpool followed by two near identical 5-0 wins at home. For a side that were struggling to not only score but create too, these performances and results took many by surprise. The huge Aleksander Mitrovic shaped hole up front, for now is being filled by Jimenez, who looks to be on deadly form. The Mexican suffered a fractured skull in 2020, but the former Wolves striker seems to have his mojo back, and with that is successfully linking up with his Fulham teammates.
It seems it is all starting to click for again for Fulham. Silva, who turned down millions to manage in Saudi Arabia during the summer to stay at Fulham. He put pen to paper on a new contract in October, and has the fans and the board’s backing to push on, after a 10th place finish in the Premier League last season.
Worries are still creeping around about the future of Palhinha, after his deadline day move to Bayern Munich collapsed at the final hour, but for now Silva has Fulham playing scintillating football on the banks of the River Thames. A huge attraction to any player looking for a move to the Premier League. It seem that after a summer of anxiety, and a slow start in the league, Fulham have finally got their house in order, and with that are dishing out bruising footballing lessons to their Premier League rivals.
