Stoke City vs Fulham. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Stoke City and Fulham at the bet365 Stadium as the Cottagers extended their lead at the top of the table thanks to Bobby Decordova-Reid's late goal.
Saturday 22 January 2022 18:46, UK
Fulham stretched their lead at the top of the Championship to eight points after a 3-2 win over Stoke, despite falling behind inside 45 seconds.
The Cottagers suffered an early setback when D'Margio Wright-Phillips - son of Shaun and grandson of Ian Wright - opened the scoring with the game's first attack.
Rodrigo Munoz immediately equalised and Fabio Carvalho and Bobby Decordova-Reid scored either side of a spectacular Lewis Baker strike to secure a fourth straight league win.
Making only his second league start and his first in front of a home crowd, 20-year-old Wright-Phillips met an enticing Josh Tymon delivery with an accomplished volley - his first senior strike.
However, the Potters' celebrations were cut short a matter of seconds later when the league's pace-setters equalised straight from kick-off.
Muniz - the 20-year-old Brazilian tasked with filling the void left by absent top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic - rifled an accurate effort into the top corner in an eventful opening two minutes.
The fixture, promised goals due to Fulham's return of 19 in their three prior outings, showed no signs of slowing yet it was Michael O'Neill's side who looked destined to regain the lead.
The lively Wright-Phillips delivered a precise cross for strike partner Jacob Brown, but the latter misjudged his effort and failed to finish from point-blank range.
A frenetic start to the tie took another twist shortly after the half-hour mark when the visitors snatched the lead.
Carvalho combined well with Decordova-Reid before his scuffed effort was directed in off the post, Muniz claiming a touch but the goal credited to Carvalho.
Undeterred by falling behind, Stoke finished the first period strongly and should have levelled after more good work by Wright-Phillips, but nobody in red and white was on hand to convert the youngster's cutback.
The home side's dominance continued beyond the interval and their efforts were rewarded inside the hour when Baker marked his first start for the club in style.
After ending a 17-year association with Chelsea last week, the midfielder let fly from 30 yards with an accurate strike arching into the far corner beyond a helpless Jack Bonham.
Buoyed on by a vocal crowd, Stoke rallied in their efforts to secure a first home league win since mid-November, but they suffered a sucker punch in the 72nd minute.
Muniz went agonisingly close with a header off the crossbar, but Decordova-Reid was in position to fire in the rebound through a sea of bodies.
Stoke debutant Jaden Philogene-Bidace, on loan from Aston Villa, saw a late deflected strike hit the foot of the post and another effort whistle narrowly over the target.
However, Fulham held onto a slender lead to extend their unbeaten away record to seven games, strengthening their claim for the Championship title in the process.
Stoke's Michael O'Neill: "I thought we were the better team in the first half. We had a brilliant start and they reacted equally as brilliantly, but towards the end of the first half and the second half, we were the better team. I did feel that there were a lot of inconsistencies throughout the game from the referee. It was such a good game which both teams contributed so much to, we want the ball in play as much as possible and the officials have a responsibility to help that.
"We've said to the players what we feel we need to finish in a top-six position, and if they play as we did today then I would expect to win more games than we'll lose in the last 20 games. We've got to get a good reaction now; we feel a little bit hard done by but we've got to put it behind us."
Fulham's Marco Silva: "It's another important win for us. It was tough to play here, we knew we were playing against a lot of quality. They showed their quality, but our players showed big character and big personality. When you are in this competition you have to do it week in, week out. Our strengths come from the collective, not just one or two players. We were without two key players and maybe people were waiting for us not to answer in the right way, but we have fantastic players and we showed we are a collective so I'm really pleased.
"We didn't start the game the way we must do, but we showed we are a really good group with the way we responded. They equalised and started to have good moments. At 2-2, they believed more and the crowd was behind them, but we showed that character. When you make this type of statement, when everyone expects goals, we as a collective have been fantastic. I want all of them ready now."
