Fulham secure playoff-spot – still up for automatic promotion

Fulham took another impressive victory on Friday at home turf against another promotion candidate Cardiff. The hosts had a chance to secure their promotion playoff spot and that did Scott Parker’s men deliver. With three games remaining, Fulham is currently on the fourth spot with 76 points, trailed by Nottingham with 69 and Cardiff at 64. The final playoff-spots are still under scrutiny with five teams within three points of Swansea.

Fulham’s 2-0 victory added to a string of excellent results of four consecutive wins, with only one goal conceded in the process. Goal scoring has been somewhat of an issue for the Cottagers, but after the break they have managed to snatch the deciding goal when it mattered. On Friday, the league leading scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic, back from his suspension, opened the scoring by converting a penalty on the 35^th minute. The Serbian has found the net 24 times this season, matching Brenford’s Ollie Watkins on the top of the scoring race. As usual, Fulham took control of the possession and allowed Cardiff no goal scoring chances whatsoever, but threatened the visitor’s net for three shots in the first half. Mitrovic’s tally remained the single goal for the first half.

The second half continued with more of the same, Fulham utterly dominating the game, allowing Cardiff no shots on goal whatsoever and gifting Marek Rodak another clean sheet with not much of an effort. The Fulham defense put up a world-class presentation, blocking six shots by the Cardiff offense. Cottager’s Joshua Onomah then added the insurance goal on the 66^th minute, scoring his second in three games and third of the season. Fulham ran out clear and deserved winners and look poised to challenge for the promotion. WBA and Leeds are still likely to capture the automatic promotion and are 5 and 8 points ahead with three games remaining. That being said, entering the crucial part of the season, Fulham seems to be in their best form. Along with Brentford winning six games in a row, Fulham’s current form makes them a surefire candidate for promotion.