Brentford 0 Fulham 2: Quick thoughts

Instead of recapping the match, how about I just share my thoughts on the game as they happened. It’s my stream of thought as the game played out.

• As long as I’ve been a Fulham fan, they’ve been the quaint little club punching above their weight. It’s weird when they play a team like Brentford where the other supporters really despise Fulham. The boos were loud, especially when David Button touched the ball. Is this what it feels like to be a Chelsea fan?
• That being said, Brentford had one of the best atmospheres I’ve seen in the division.
• Ryan Fredericks is a lucky boy. He had an awkward two footed tackle in the 18th minute that I wouldn’t have been surprised to see given a straight red. He won the ball though and the Brentford player was able to avoid contact so there wasn’t even a foul called.
• Brentford does need to chalk the touchlines better. It was very hard to see if the ball had crossed them.
• Maybe it was karma for the bad challenge he got away with, but the elbow that Fredericks took opened a nasty cut just under his eyes and looked mighty painful.
• Sone Aluko may have finishing issues (he had two pretty good chances he didn’t complete in the first half), but his work rate on both attack and in defense is amazing. It was great to see him finally rewarded with a goal after being denied on his third chance.
• Flares look cool, and I understand the appeal, but I’m always worried someone will mess something up and it will cause a disaster.
• Fulham need to find more ways to get Chris Martin involved. He had some good hold up play in the first half and mad some good long runs, but was rewarded with very few touches at all.
• I hate to ever call a finish easy, but the chance Piazon had just before the half was one of the easier ones you’ll see, and that isn’t considering the fact he basically stole the chance from Martin who would have had an easier one. It’s a shame that they couldn’t convert.
• Any time I see a player holding a knee and then see a trainer doing a test on it, I get a sinking feeling. Sone Aluko was able to come back on, and we can only hope it was just a knock.
• I don’t feel as nervous when Fulham give up set pieces as I have in years past, but I still don’t like it. I know corners really aren’t that dangerous, but Fulham have me conditioned.
• I thought for sure Fulham were going to concede in the 60th minute, but Sigurdsson made a good recovery to force the Brentford player wide, and Button was well positioned and made fine save.
• After Brentford made their sub, the game really opened up. I was begging for Fulham to just put their foot on the ball and kick it around for a while.
• I was very happy to see Scott Parker come on. He’s the kind of calm player who can kill a game if you need it.
• I thought Fulham had doubled their lead twice in the last ten minutes. First when Floyd Ayite drug a shot (or was it a cross?) wide and later when Brentford knocked a clearance off their own post.
• I’m not sure what David Button was doing when he tried to shepherd a ball out for a goal kick and gave up a corner. He either needs to stay in his box or boot that back up the field.
• Scott Malone won’t show up much on the score sheet, but he was great again. I can’t remember the last time Fulham had such great options at left back.
• It was a sigh of relief in my house when Martin and Cairney combined for a superb counter attack goal in extra time.
• I’m curious to see what the xG numbers are. I felt like Fulham had the much better chances. All in all, that was a very encouraging performance.