Cardiff City vs Fulham. The FA Cup Third Round.
Cardiff City Stadium.
Sunday 8 January 2017 13:49, UK
Teenager Ryan Sessegnon netted the winner as Fulham recovered from a goal down to beat Cardiff City 2-1 in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.
Sessegnon, who was born in 2000, tapped home from close range after Stefan Johansen had cancelled out Anthony Pilkington's opener for Cardiff.
There was a hint of offside for Sessegnon's 33rd-minute strike, but the flag stayed down to hand the 16-year-old his third goal of the season.
Fulham were ultimately good value for their victory in the all-Championship affair, with Slavisa Jokanovic's side recording their fourth win in seven matches.
Cardiff handed a debut to Greg Halford following his move from Rotherham, while Fulham made three changes with Marcus Bettinelli making his first start of the season in goal.
And with Fulham sitting nine places above Cardiff in the Championship, it was the visitors who started brightly at the Cardiff City Stadium.
However, the hosts won a free-kick against the run of play, and Pilkington's strike from 25 yards out took a wicked deflection to wrong-foot Bettinelli and put Cardiff ahead.
Six minutes later, Sone Aluko orchestrated a delightful move for Fulham, playing it wide for Ryan Fredericks whose cut back was slammed into the roof of the net by birthday-boy Johansen.
Cardiff went close to regaining the lead, but Joe Ralls' rasping effort was kept out by the strong right fist of Bettinelli.
Midway through the half, Lucas Piazon should have grabbed Fulham's second, but the Brazilian failed to connect with his volley following Fredericks' deflected cross.
It did not matter however, as Fulham soon gained the advantage through Sessegnon, who tapped home from close range after Tom Cairney's initial effort rattled off the bar.
There were calls from Cardiff for offside, but the goal stood - handing Sessegnon his first FA Cup goal.
After the break, Fulham continued to dominate but failed to take the game away from the hosts.
Piazon's effort was parried away by Brian Murphy 15 minutes from time, with the Cardiff 'keeper then getting down well to bat away Aluko's effort.
Bettinelli was hardly tested in the Fulham goal during the second half, and the visitors survived the late onslaught of long balls to book their place in the fourth round.
