The Tigers secured a first win for Iain Dowie against a weakened Fulham team at the KC. The win was absolutely vital. The performance wasn’t the best but that was irrelevant, getting three points was all that mattered, by hook or by crook.
After the hideous nature of the last three away defeats, it’s easy to forget that our home record is very respectable. That said, confidence must have been low amongst the players. Losing like we did at Portsmouth is gut wrenching and that following a last minute defeat to Arsenal must have seriously eroded the belief in the squad.
Iain Dowie’s options where reduced by the absences of Stephen Hunt, Andy Dawson, Caleb Folan and Bernard Mendy, though the latter made the bench. As a result, Ibrahima Sonko made a surprising return to the starting line-up, a move which appeared to horrify every fan and commentator. To be fair to the fans, when his name was read out beforehand, he received a warm applause. I saw Sonko play for the reserves on Wednesday night and I was impressed by his attitude. Being sent out on loan and ending up in the stiffs holding the hands of young defenders probably isn’t a pleasant experience. Most modern players would outright refuse to do it. Sonko did it willingly and gave it his all. Regardless of his ability, his attitude is A1.
All that meant Iain Dowie’s first City home line-up contained Myhill in goal, McShane at right back, Kilbane on the left, Sonko and Mouyokolo at centre half, Boateng and Bullard in midfield, Garcia wide right, Marney wide-ish left and Fagan and Altidore up front. I heard a lot of people discussing it beforehand and didn’t hear anyone who sounded positive about it, me included. So credit goes to Iain Dowie for sending out a side that appeared weak but performed very, very well.
We started the game well with Jozy Altidore dominating the Fulham back line from the first whistle and forced a corner in the opening seconds. From there, Fulham settled into a nice rhythm and they looked the better team in open play. They were missing Bobby Zamora up front and it meant they had little presence. So while their approach play was good, they didn’t have a lot up front to frighten us. Mouyokolo was a rock throughout, he was seriously impressive, and he won just about very ball in the air and every cross played into the box. He was ably assisted by Sonko who, one iffy clearance aside, looked calm and confident. When we didn’t have the ball, we worked hard at keeping our shape. We didn’t have one man chasing down and leaving gaps to be exploited, we kept together as a unit throughout and made it difficult for Fulham. They couldn’t pass through us and couldn’t go long because we were so dominant so rarely looked like scoring.
As an attacking force, we were a bit intermittent but threatening when we did go forward. When we got the ball into Fagan and Altidore, they drove at their defence. Altidore really worried them and whenever he had space to move into, they fouled him. Dikgacoi was lucky to avoid a yellow for a cynical foul on the big American before Smalling brought him down inside the penalty area. Smalling had a tug at his shirt as he latched onto a Bullard cross and turned towards goal before tripping him as he tried to win the ball. Like the Sol Campbell challenge a fortnight ago, it was arguably a sending off offence. Jimmy Bullard lashed in the penalty. Does anyone take a better spot kick than Jimmy? I haven’t seen them if so.
Fulham responded well to the goal and had their most threatening spell of the game. They were dangerous from set pieces due to the presence of Hangeland and Smalling. Kilbane got himself into trouble on the left and had to concede a free kick and take a yellow card. Then Sonko conceded a cheap corner when a ball was flicked off him. From the ball in, the ball fell to the feet of Gera who swiveled neatly and shot past Myhill only to be denied by an incredible limbo dance move by George Boateng who stopped the ball with his thighs. Before half time, a ball over the top caused panic in our defence, Sonko was beaten to it, Myhill came out and had it prodded past him but Mouyokolo chased back and booted it off the line.
That desire not to concede was refreshing and was obvious throughout. We put our heads in where it hurt, Myhill came to punch through crowds of bodies and we made block after block. That’s not to say we were under constant pressure, it was more the occasional wave but we worked hard to never give Fulham any encouragement. Much like us in some recent games, they could have played until Monday morning and probably not scored so the second goal was a real clincher. We hadn’t threatened too much in the first half, Bullard came closed with a low free-kick that Schwarzer pushed around the post and Marney hit a decent shot that went straight at the big Aussie. Three Fulham players were booked for fouls on Altidore, Davies, Dikgacoi and Shorey, such was Jozy’s ability to turn defenders and attack space.
Early in the second half, Garcia got onto a ball out defence and showed great strength to hold the ball up and lay off to Marney. He put in a belting cross with his left foot and Fagan met it beautifully, looping a ridiculous header back across goal and beyond Schwarzer who didn’t seem to realise it was on target until it hit the net. It just about killed the game. Fulham kept coming forward but were well marshaled. We never lost our shape at all. We looked well drilled and defended well. The only criticism I’d have is that we were awfully narrow at times and so Nicky Shorey was able to exploit that several times in the second half, getting the run on Marney and delivering several decent balls in with his “wrong” foot. We stood up to it well though. Myhill made several comfortable saves, Mouyokolo, Sonko and Marney all made good blocks and Kilbane won a lot of headers from corners. You can tell it’s the “business end” of the season as we checked for the scores from elsewhere and then did the unthinkable; we clebrated a Stoke goal!
We did a good job of seeing the game out, far better than last week at least! Dowie made sensible substitutions that gave us legs in the middle and an easy out ball for the last 10 minutes. The second half was low on action but that suited us. We ran out comfortable winners in the end. We did what Dowie said we’d do, we were organised, we worked hard, we passed well where it mattered and showed that we’ve got the spirit for the fight. There wasn’t really a bad performer in a black and amber shirt. Garcia looked a bit sluggish, he worked hard and read everything but his lack of pace/fitness meant he was second to the ball a lot. Boateng put in a fine shift and covered every position which was left open by our attacks. Bullard was quiet for him but kept things ticking over in the middle and never shirked the ball. Marney worked up and down the flank and eventually snuffed out the danger of Shorey. Fagan also put in a lot of work, that generally goes without saying, but showed decent ability on the ball too and while he wasn’t as dangerous as Altidore, he made good runs out wide that opened up space and gave us a good option. Altidore was terrific. He was strong with his back to goal and electric when he got the ball out of his feet. They had no answer to him. It’d be nice to see that endeavor rewarded with a goal or two, he deserves them. He’s improved constantly throughout the season to the point where the only question about our strike force should be “Who’s playing up front with Jozy?”
The three points were crucial, that was obvious to everyone. It should breathe life back into everyone involved with the club. I won’t make any predictions for the rest of the season. After every woeful away performance, I’m convinced that we’re doomed and after every terrific home performance, I’m convinced that we’ll stay up. What is blindingly obvious is that we CAN stay up. We need two or three more home results like this one and we probably need to find one or two results away from home. If nothing else, picking up draws away from home will ensure that we don’t erode the confidence that the decent home results give us. We must now go to Stoke and put in a performance that keeps the players and fans believing that we can stay up, regardless of how many points we leave with. Whoever plays centre half with the absence of Gardner, Zayatte, Cooper and Sonko better be in for one hell of a game. What about Big Jan at sweeper to deal with the balls in? I saw Ibrahima Sonko look like a Premier League centre half and Craig Fagan look like a Premier League striker today. I believe that anything is possible.
Ratings: Myhill 7, McShane 6, Kilbane 7, Mouyokolo 8, Sonko 7, Garcia 6, Marney 7, Boateng 7, Bullard 7 (Olofinjana), Fagan 7, Altidore 8.