Fulham had to pay Middlesbrough the ultimate compliment as they came from behind to win 3-1 in the FA Cup third round.
Ending Boro’s cup run at this stage for a fourth successive year, they can nevertheless take so much heart from their performance at Craven Cottage, having led through Hayden Hackney at the break. The late third goal was cruel and not reflective of Boro’s efforts through the game.
With Boro looking comfortable, it was the introduction of Harry Wilson, Tom Cairney and Raul Jimenez that changed the game in the Premier League side’s favour, as they needed their big guns to see Boro off.
Man of the moment Wilson in particular changed the game for his side, netting the equaliser five minutes after coming on and setting up the late third. Cairney set up Emile Smith-Rowe to fire the second 13 minutes from time.
Kim Hellberg set out his stall ahead of the game as he named a strong team for the game, making only two changes. One was enforced as Alan Browne came in for Alex Bangura, after replacing him after just five minutes in the Southampton win.
In attack, Alex Gilbert replaced Delano Burgzorg, who did still make the bench despite speculation linking him with a move to Bristol City in the January transfer window.
There were seven changes from the home side, but in a show of their might, they were still able to name players like Harrison Reed, Ryan Sessegnon, Emile Smith Rowe and former Boro man Adama Traore in their starting line up.
Hellberg had promised to really go for the cup tie. He saw the game as a good opportunity for Boro to test themselves against a quality Premier League team to see how much improvement was needed.
And if this was a marker for Boro’s Premier League aspirations then the signs were good. Boro more than matched their top-flight opponents in the opening 45 minutes and were good value for their half-time lead.
The opener almost came inside five minutes when Sammy Silvera got to the byline and cut back for Tommy Conway at the near post. His swipe at goal was saved after good reactions from Ben Lecomte.
Boro continued to be brave in possession and Morgan Whittaker was linking play well for his side. There were more nearly moments and good openings – notably one where Hackney beat the offside trap and came so close to finishing Alex Gilbert’s chipped cross in at the back post.
At the other end, Boro were working hard out of possession and restricting their hosts. There were flashes of their quality, but, for 40 minutes, anything Sol Brynn had to do was routine.
It was on the half-hour mark that Boro took the lead. Silvera again getting in behind to the byline, this time after an excellent one-two with Aidan Morris, the Aussie picked out Hackney at the front post and he applied a clever flicked finish to send the 5,000-strong Boro away end into raptures.
It was an impressive first half from Boro, but they had to manage a tricky final five minutes. Fulham upped the tempo somewhat, with Traore at the centre of it. Luke Ayling was on hand to block one shot and then clear another off the line, as Jorge Cuenca flicked a corner goalwards at the front post.
Boro were having to do a lot more defending at the start of the second half. To be fair, their out-of-possession work remained tight, as they suffocated Fulham and offered few openings.
Ten minutes after the restart, Marco Silva had seen enough. In a huge complement to Boro, regular starters Raul Jimenez, Tom Cairney and Harry Wilson were all on.
The changes had an immediate impact for the hosts. Man of the moment Wilson finishing wonderfully to level the scores on the hour mark.
Matt Targett was left with a two-on-one situation out wide and, forced to step off a little to cover both, Wilson cut inside and had enough space to bend one perfectly into the bottom far corner.
But Boro were so nearly immediately back in front. Poor Conway can’t buy a goal right now, and his efforts in this one deserved one. Unfortunately, he shot on the turn was fractionally too high, as he crashed a strike against the bar. It was his last kick, as he made way fro Burgzorg.
Fulham were buoyed by their goal and increasingly piling the pressure on. Kevin went so close with a bending effort from the opposite side just five minutes after the equaliser.
Wilson continued to be at the heart of so much positive Fulham pressure. He went close to scoring an almost identical second, but Brynn was equal to this one, making a smart stop at full stretch.
It was coming though, and Fulham’s turnaround was completed on 77 minutes when Cairney picked the pass to get Smith Rowe in behind, He turned and smashed one low beyond the helpless Brynn.
Boro weren’t going down without a fight though. Just two minutes later Whittaker found himself in behind after Morris’ flick over the top. Hitting one across goal, the curl on the ball just took it narrowly wide of the far post.
In a cruel end, Kevin added a third in stoppage time. A 3-1 scoreline not reflective of Boro’s efforts as they exit the FA Cup in round three for a fourth consecutive season.
On this occasion, however, Boro can take a lot of heart from how they competed with Fulham, particularly in the first half. Fulham had to pay Boro the ultimate compliment by bringing on their big guns to see the job through and book their place in the fourth round.
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