Fulham put five past Huddersfield to claim first win of the season

Posted Sunday, August 15, 2021 by PA

Fulham thumped Huddersfield 5-1 to pick up their first win of the season despite seeing Harry Wilson sent off midway through the second half.

The Terriers started brightly but were made to pay for some woeful first-half defending as Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring in the ninth minute after errors from Ryan Schofield and Sorba Thomas.

Josh Onomah and Fabio Carvalho then scored two more in the latter stages of the first half after further defensive blunders by the hosts.

Matty Pearson had given Huddersfield brief hope after heading home from a 41st-minute corner, between Fulham’s second and third goals.

Substitute Ivan Cavaleiro chipped Schofield to make it 4-1 with 12 minutes to go, before another cool finish deep into stoppage time rounded off the scoring.

The visitors had played the last 18 minutes a man down after Wilson was sent off for kicking out at Levi Colwill following a late tackle.

Schofield tipped away Onomah’s long-range effort in the second minute during a frantic opening, before Paulo Gazzaniga kept out a Duane Holmes shot after a flowing move by Huddersfield.

Pearson had a goal ruled out after he smashed a loose ball home from the resulting corner, but Fulham hit the front four minutes later through Mitrovic.

Schofield was unable to control a misjudged back pass by Thomas and could only watch on as his clearance rebounded off Mitrovic and into the goal.

Mitrovic had a header ruled out for offside after 31 minutes, before Wilson scuffed a shot wide with the goal begging soon after.

The pressure paid off when Onomah bundled home from close range after Huddersfield failed to react to Bobby Decordova-Reid’s 37th-minute corner.

Pearson pulled a goal back after he rose brilliantly to head home a Thomas corner on 41 minutes, but it was to no avail after Fulham restored their two-goal cushion through Carvalho before the break as Town again failed to clear their lines.

Schofield palmed away a curling Wilson effort in stoppage time, before Josh Koroma fired straight at the goalkeeper from 20 yards just before the hour mark.

The Huddersfield keeper then failed to hold a Carvalho shot, before Wilson hit the crossbar from the rebound and followed up with an effort that was struck straight at Schofield as Fulham pegged Huddersfield in their own half.

But the Liverpoool loanee was given a straight red card in the 72nd minute for lashing out at Colwill following a late tackle on the touchline.

It did not prevent Fulham from extending their lead further, however, with Cavaleiro chipping over Schofield after a perfect pass by Decordova-Reid in the 78th minute and then adding another five minutes into stoppage time after good hold-up play by Mitrovic.