Emile Smith Rowe, on his Craven Cottage debut, and Alex Iwobi were both on target as Fulham beat Leicester City 2-1 to win their first home game of the new season.
The hosts bossed most of a pulsating encounter in the west London rain, deservedly opening the scoring after 18 minutes after a lovely move involving Adama Traore, whose searing run across the middle of the pitch caused panic in the Leicester back line, before the forward released Smith Rowe clean through on goal with a clever pass.
The club-record signing from Arsenal kept his cool to find the far corner, with manager Marco Silva praising his impact, saying: “It was nice to see him be decisive”, although the visitors had already been a threat on the counterattack and were level seven minutes before half-time through Wout Faes’s close-range header.
Facundo Buonanotte floated a corner to the back post which the Belgian centre back nodded past Bernd Leno, only for the referee’s assistant to immediately raise his flag for offside against Jamie Vardy, lurking around the Fulham No 1.
Wout Faes celebrates after equalising for Leicester at Fulham
Video Assistant Referee Jarred Gillet, however, asked the on-field official to go over to the pitch-side monitor and it did not take him long to deem the veteran Foxes striker was not interfering with Leno’s line of sight, bringing the visitors level at the break.
That goal appeared to give Fulham the impetus to take the game to Leicester in the second period and while the Foxes largely frustrated their opponents, they were always knocking on the door and re-took the lead with 20 minutes to go.
Alex Iwobi celebrates after restoring Fulham’s lead against Leicester
Antonee Robinson’s long ball up the line found Iwobi in space down the left flank and the winger then powered forward into the box, before blasting a shot through the advancing Mads Hermansen to hand Fulham a well-earned and deserved three points, with the visitors still looking for their first win of the new season.
What the managers said…
Fulham boss Marco Silva:
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Fulham boss Marco Silva says his side dominated the game against Leicester and deserved the three points
“It’s always important [to get first goal] when you sign a talent like him [Smith Rowe], it’s important to have the impact.
“We signed him not only just for now but for a long time, it was important for him even though he has experience. Last season he didn’t play football, I think it was his first goal in the Premier League in two years as well.
“He settled in the preseason, it was important to get a little bit more confidence and he scored a good finish. When we sign a player for that position we need them to be decisive, he got the conclusion to finish in the right way.
“It was a great pass from Robinson [for the second goal] and that’s something we wanted to exploit down the left.
“He’s been impressive, he’s improved as a player, he was one of our best players of the season last season and he never stops.
“The way he started last week shows he’s a great athlete and he is able to keep improving.”
Leicester boss Steve Cooper:
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Leicester’s boss, Steve Cooper, was disappointed to lose out to Fulham away from home but admitted that they were the better team
“It thought Fulham took control more than us and had the territory and went 1-0 up. A couple of minutes after that where he didn’t manage the game well, we then worked our way back into the game and got some good moments, some dangerous attacks and got back into the game through a set-piece.
“At half-time, we were really confident we would go and win the game. We felt the game was there for us. There was a lot of tension and we couldn’t capitalise on that. Then we got into the phase of tired legs and changes, and that second goal came in that phase.
“The two goals we’ve conceded are real examples of what happens when you’re not quite right with your decision-making and your tactical ideas. You can get punished. That’s what we did with both goals in presenting the opportunities for Fulham and the space we gave.”
‘Decisive’ Smith Rowe reminds everyone of his prodigious talent
Analysis by Sky Sports’ Richard Morgan:
Fulham manager Marco Silva was full of praise for £34 million club-record signing Emile Smith Rowe after his goal helped Fulham beat Leicester 2-1 as the Cottagers got off the mark for the new season.
The west London club lost some big-name players during the summer, especially in midfield, but those departures will soon be forgotten if Smith Rowe can continue performing like he did at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
The some-time England international opened the scoring after a composed run and finish, incredibly his first Premier League goal in 32 games and 857 days since netting against Chelsea in April 2022.
“When we sign a player for that position we need them to be decisive, he got the conclusion to finish in the right way,” said Silva after the match.
And the exciting thing for Fulham fans is this was just Smith Rowe’s second start alongside Sasa Lukic in an all-new central-midfield partnership, with Silva predicting the 24-year-old will only now get better.
“He’s far from his best from a physical point of view, he’s going to improve, he’ll adapt more, it was nice to see him be decisive,” said the Portuguese.
