Jokanovic Quick Trigger Helps Fulham Salvage Point

It was the quick trigger of Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic that helped Fulham salvage a draw against Hull City. The Whites were able to draw 2-2 to a Hull City side that continues to look better and better with each match.

The game could not have been scripted worse for Fulham. In the 11th minute of the match, Fikayo Tomori had an opportunity at goal for Hull. He was able to get off a shot which hit the crossbar, but a late whistle offsides halted any result that would have come.

It wasn’t long after that Hull was able to find their first goal. After a congested opening minutes and a sluggish start by Fulham, Hull found the back of the net on a corner kick. The corner which was conceded by Odoi, was flicked in to an unmarked Jarrod Bowen, who was near the back-post. He was able to easily hit the ball into the top corner giving Hull the 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute.

The tragedy of a first half continued for Fulham just four minutes afterwards. Jon Toral was able to split the central defenders, Ream and Kalas, with a pass to Nouha Dicko. Dicko was then able to easily slot the ball into the top of the net making the game 2-0 in Hull’s favor. Fulham looked outmatched just 36 minutes into the game.

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It was then the quick thinking by manager Jokanovic that turned the game around. In the 40th minute, the Serbian manager made a double substitution, bringing on Neeskens Kabano and Aboubakar Kamara for Sheyi Ojo and Floyd Ayite, respectively.

The game went into halftime 2-0 in favor of Hull.

Out of the gates, the home team still seemed to be in control. A quick opportunity arose for Dicko, who had an open shot from close range. Marcus Bettinelli made an excellent save of the shot, however, in order to keep the game from getting out of reach. This is the moment things seemed to turn around for The Whites.

Kamara found himself inside the box and drew a penalty. The Frenchman was dragged down by Michael Hector, who attempted to keep the big bodied striker from turning. Kamara was able to perfectly slot the penalty into the top right corner, making the game 2-1 in the 48th minute.

Fulham then found themselves in complete control. Hull couldn’t seem to maintain any sort of possession and Fulham were just playing keep-away. Kebano caused plenty of havoc for The Tiger’s back line, and had a shot on target in the 66th minute, which ended up in the hands of Hull keeper McGregor.

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Continuing to put pressure on Hull, Kamara was close to finding his second goal in the 79th minute. Lucas Piazon played a beautiful through-ball on the left side to Ryan Sessegnon, who had his attempt poked away by McGregor. The ball fell to Kamara after this touch, and he sailed the ball over the bar on an open goal.

They opportunity came again though, as Piazon played Kamara in the middle of the 18-yard box. He was able to body off the man marking him, and neatly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner. The Frenchman was able to tie the game up 2-2 in the 85th minute.

At that point until the end of the game, there were no true opportunities for a winner on both sides. Hull and Fulham had to settle for a draw ending 2017 with one point each.