Fulham FC (La Doce): BORO (H) MATCH REPORT- STRENGTH IN DEPTH?

I don't normally go to EFL cup games, especially in the early rounds, but the optimism we can sense around the club changed my mind. The signing of Sigurdsson, after the "media reported" problems for Slavisa regarding transfer policy, made me feel even more optimistic.
The normal couple of beers and it was off to the Cottage, via Bishop's Park, in what must have been one of the warmest evenings of the year. Surprisingly there seemed to be a lot of Boro' fans for the long journey south, but I have a feeling that many of them were "Smoggy's" who had relocated to the south.

Let's get to the match. The gaffer selected what amounted to a reserve side, even though Tunners, Ream, Stearman, LVC and Woodrow may disagree. Forgive me for this lads, but so far they have not been first choices. Edun and Adeniran got their chance again, and Malone was the only starter who could count himself as more of a first choice. When I saw Malone, it struck me that the gaffer will start with Sessegnon against Blackburn. Boro' for their part were giving a debut to new signing Fabio, and with Downing and Nugent also starting, we cannot say it was that weak a line up. Guzan in goal was the big surprise as I am a big fan of Konstantopoulos, and the excellent Greek must be wondering where his future lies. Boro' started brightly and for the first 15 minutes we were being pegged back, although they seemed to have little goal threat. Grimmer was given a squad number before the match, but his performance did nothing to suggest he will get many chances, as he was constantly being outplayed. The lads slowly came into the game, and we looked the more threatening with Edun growing in confidence. LVC, for his part, looked much more lively, and confident, on the back of his extended contract deal. But it was Boro' who took the lead through a well placed Nugent header.

I don't know what the gaffer said at half time, but we flew out of the blocks, forcing a string of corners, and Jozabed's quality from set pieces was excellent. After 10-15 minutes of sustained pressure Boro' started to play keep ball, without really going anywhere. Then, the excellent, Scott Malone fired in a loose ball from the edge of the box, and although it was credited as an o.g., it was going in anyway. Kavanagh replaced the hapless Grimmer and Smith came on for Woodrow, Some our football was pure class with one touch football threatening, but not quite happening, to open them up. Jozabed grew in confidence , and some of his touches showed his massive potential. But the half wound down, and we were left to face extra time.

De La Torre, replaced the tiring Jozabed and the boy is certainly talented, taking on, and beating, players at will. With penalties looming, an excellent move down the left saw a low cross turned in by LVC who was in the right place. And that was that, on to a home tie with Bristol City.

Summary-

An excellent performance with some outstanding performances from Edun, Malone, Ream, Stearman, De La Torre and Jozabed.

MOM- Although Malone won the official vote, I want to give it to Jozabed. Once he got going, he showed he has something different and was always looking to try things, and showed he wanted to get forward often. I believe that on this showing, once he has properly settled in, he will become a star.