Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Blackpool and Fulham at Bloomfield Road as Josh Bowler's goal earned the Tangerines a first victory of the season on their return to the second tier
Saturday 11 September 2021 18:48, UK
A smartly-taken second-half strike by Josh Bowler handed newly-promoted Blackpool a precious 1-0 win against Fulham.
Neil Critchley's Seasiders secured their first Sky Bet Championship success of the campaign, with Fulham sliding to their first defeat.
The Londoners - on the back of a run of four straight victories - piled on the pressure in the final 20 minutes but could not find the breakthrough against a rock-solid Blackpool back line.
The first game between these two in more than six years saw Fulham carve out the first chance in the fourth minute.
Josh Onomah found the onrushing Ivan Cavaleiro but his effort from 18 yards was disappointingly skied.
There was a terrific noise inside Bloomfield Road, and the home fans were on their feet when Keshi Anderson flashed a 25-yard thunderbolt inches past the upright.
The high tempo continued and, 60 seconds later, Tyreece John-Jules charged through on goal, only to be thwarted by the legs of Fulham keeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
The game was ebbing and flowing, with the visitors next to threaten when Cavaleiro turned neatly on the edge of the box before seeing a shot gathered comfortably by Chris Maxwell.
As the half-hour mark passed, both sides were guilty of making too many misplaced passes, however it was Fulham who were next to go close.
Jean Michael Seri drilled in a low shot from distance which was only narrowly off target.
With the interval in sight, Marco Silva's men appeared to be turning the screw but the closest they came to grabbing that elusive breakthrough came in added time when Antonee Robinson's deep cross almost dropped in at the far post.
There was an uptempo feel to the start of the second period and after Cavaleiro had gone close at one end, the Seasiders struck their first home Championship goal of the season at the other in the 49th minute. It was Bowler who grabbed it.
After meeting Kevin Stewart's pass, he charged menacingly down the right flank before side-footing confidently past Gazzaniga from an acute angle.
Onomah dragged a fizzing strike narrowly wide, while Blackpool fluffed a decent chance to go two clear when Stewart curled a free-kick high off target.
Fulham were pressing hard for a leveller in the closing stages as Domingos Quina was unlucky with a chipped effort, then Maxwell was forced into a superb save to keep out Dennis Odoi's glancing header from Robinson's cross.
It was all becoming a little frantic but further misses from subs Rodrigo Muniz and Harrison Reed meant Fulham went home empty-handed.
Blackpool's Neil Critchley: "It's a really good feeling for everyone, but I'm particularly delighted with the performance. The longer you go without getting a victory the pressure does build, but I knew a win wasn't far away. This group of players surprise me sometimes but I know exactly what they're capable of. For us to get the win and a clean sheet against a really strong Fulham team has been an outstanding effort.
"I'm really happy for the fans. Their support is immense and there's no better atmosphere than here when they get going. It was unbelievable. They get behind the team for the full 90 minutes, incessantly. It's relentless."
Fulham's Marco Silva: "Congratulations to Blackpool. They played their game well while we were just not good enough. The chances overall probably balanced out the game, but we didn't create enough. We'll go away and analyse why these things happened - we have to play the game faster and with much more intensity.
"We were full of confidence going into the game, but it's just not happened for us. We've had the international break of course, but that's not going to be an excuse. Some of the players weren't coming back until earlier or in the middle of the week, but that is just part of the game we compete in. We had more than enough out on the field to go out and get the win. It was our fault in that moment with the goal. We just have to react better in those situations."