Key events
52 min Ipswich started the second half well but now Fulham re starting to impose themselves. The weather, since you asked, is still utterly disgusting.
49 min “I’m not familiar with that Lukic character but he’s got the air of a good, old fashioned troublemaker,” writes J.R. in Illinois. “I particularly enjoyed the incident 1.5 seconds into the game as you noted. He tried blocking Delap from chasing the ball and Delap obliged in giving Lukic what he richly deserved.
“It’s a shame the darts is over as it’s a beautiful day to stay inside here in flyover country. We’re in the process of getting 4-10 inches of snow and they’ve already let us know they’re not forecasting the temperature to rise above 0° C any time for at least three weeks.
“Apparently they’re naming our winter storms after former UK prime ministers because this one is called Blair. The one I’m really dreading is when Truss comes along.”
No, no, they’re naming them after famous Lionels. The next is one is Storm Messi, then it’ll be Storm de Niceville.
48 min Davis’s precise low cross finds its way to Szmodics, 12 yards out, and he screws a first-time shot off target under pressure from Bassey. It looked like Bassey caught him but there were no appeals for a penalty.
47 min “Hi Rob, and Happy New Year!” begins a peculiarly jaunty Simon McMahon. Ah. “One of the things I enjoy most about the MBM is that it gives me an interest in teams that I otherwise would know nothing about. Like Fulham and Ipswich for example. Or Everton, who I cannot think of now without being reminded of the long suffering Mary Waltz.
“It also allows me to connect with fans of other teams, particularly so called ‘provincial’ sides like, say, Nottingham Forest. Who are of course riding high this season in third place, coincidentally like Dundee United in Scotland, who are at home to Hearts today, after consecutive wins against St. Johnstone, Aberdeen and Dundee over the festive period. It’s like the 1980s all over again. Without Brian Clough and Jim McLean of course, more’s the pity.”
It’s such a shame they didn’t meet in Europe. Imagine the colour of the air had McLean and Clough shared a touchline. There isn’t a hex code around for that shade of blue.
46 min Ipswich begin the second half, and why not.
Fulham substitution Emile Smith Rowe comes on for Issa Diop, which presumably means a return to 4-2-3-1 as below.
Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Lukic, Cairney; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Jimenez.
Half-time reading
But will he pick Chris Powell?
Half time: Fulham 0-1 Ipswich
Marco Silva stomps off with a face like thunder. Fulham have dominated throughout yet find themselves behind to a goal from Sammie Szmodics. Silva’s anger stems from the decision to give Leif Davis a yellow card rather than a red when he took out Harry Wilson. It was one of those newfangled Referee’s Call decisions – had Davis been sent off, I’m not sure VAR would have overturned it.
45 min On the Ipswich goal, I thought Robinson headed against his own bar but Sky are saying it was Johnson’s effort. The end result is the same.
44 min Iwobi’s cross from the right is headed away to the edge of the area. Wilson meets it with a sweet, technically superb volley that is headed away by Greaves. Turns out it was going wide anyway.
43 min “I hate to say I told you so,” says Richard Hirst, “but…”
Be patient young man, you’re playing well.
42 min Vincent Kompany was criticised last season for refusing to compromise Burnley’s style of play. Kieran McKenna is more of a flexible idealist, and his pragmatism is serving Ipswich extremely well right now. They beat Chelsea with around 24 per cent possession and are leading Fulham with 26 per cent.
40 min “Only ever been to Craven Cottage once,” says Jeremy Boyce. “Late 80s, Boxing Day, supporting the Mighty Shrews while I was in London. Third Division (ask your dad), everyone nicely relaxed after plenty of Christmas beer and spirits. Ground 1/4 full. Rubbish footie but who cares? Shrews take the lead, against the run of play, we jump up and down from our great seats on the halfway line, in the Bobby Moore Stand, enjoying the josh with the good natured Fulham fans.
“Policeman arrives. ‘You will have to go and join the away supporters in the segregated area at the end of the stand.’ Everyone shocked, even the Fulham fans (‘leave ‘em alone, they’re alright’), eventually it came down to me asking:
‘What if I decide not to go and sit in the segregated area?’
‘You may always choose to leave the ground if you wish, sir.’
“A sense of perspective helps in football.”
At the risk of ruining the moment with entirely needless pedantry, it wasn’t quite Boxing Day. Looks like it was 30 December 1989, which brings us back to the present day as that’s the last time Man Utd were flirting with relegation. John McGinlay scored your goal that day; I had no idea he played for Shrewsbury. Or that David Moyes was your centre-half!
39 min Broadhead is booked for a lungint tackle on Cairney. He got the ball but went in recklessly.
Delap held the ball up well on the left side of the area and found Davis. He gave pushed the ball infield to Broadhead, who teased an inviting cross to the far post. Robinson headed against his own crossbar, under considerable pressure from Johnson, and then Bassey made a horrible mess of an attempted clearance. He could only mishit the ball straight to Szmodics, who rifled it through everyone from 10 yards.
GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Ipswich (Szmodics 38)
Smash and grab!
36 min Iwobi slides a return to Robinson on the left side of the area. His cutback is cut out well by Johnson, without which Wilson or Jimenez might have had a clear chance.
35 min Harry Wilson has been the brightest and most penetrative attacking player on the field so far. He still feels – and plays like – a 22-year-old, but he turns 28 in March so this is an important stage of his career.
34 min Fulham break and Wilson plays a dangerous crossfield pass that is crucially cut out by Woolfenden, running back towards goal. Without that intervention Fulham would have had an overload in the inside-left channel.
33 min Ipswich have barely crossed the halfway line for 10 minutes but a free-kick in the centre circle gives their defence a bit of a breather. That leads to their first corner of the game, but Davis’s delivery doesn’t beat the front man. Harvard-educated my foot.
28 min It was brilliant play from Wilson, who played a neat one-two with Jimenez just inside the Ipswich half and zoomed through the gap. There was a centre-back coming across, either Woolfenden or Greaves, so the on-field decision won’t be overturned. You can argue it was a clear goalscoring opportunity but not that it was a clear and obvious error.
File under Referee’s Call, also known as FURC sake.if you’re a Fulham fan.
VAR check for a possible red card
27 min Wilson surges away from Davis 25 yards from goal and is taken out. Was Davis the last man? I suspect there was enough cover and the referee agrees – Davis is booked.
25 min During that brief flurry a few minutes ago, Harry Wilson tried to run through Woolfenden in the area, with the ball looping up to hit his outstretched arm. There was no appeals for a penalty and no suggestion of VAR involvement, presumably for two reasons: his proximity to Wilson and the fact there was at least one ricochet.
23 min “Fitba update,” begins James Humphries. “Hibs and Rangers get a point each for a very, very silly 3-3, and in the (1430 kickoff for no reason I can tell?) game at Fir Park, mighty Well prepare for our party trick of handing three points to any team in a slump. Weather update: effing baltic.”
I lived in Orkney for five and a half years so your bones have my sympathy on a day like today.
22 min Iwobi shapes to cross, beats his man instead and whips a shot that deflects behind for a corner. This is Fulham’s best spell of pressure, by a distance.
21 min: Good save by Walton! A Fulham free-kick is half cleared and curled back into the area by Cairney. Jimenez meets it with a downward header that is well saved by Walton, plunging to his right. The header was fairly central but he had to change direction and then get down quickly. Jimenez may feel he shouldn’t have given Walton a chance.
18 min Delap holds the ball up nicely, gets it back and marches towards the edge of the Fulham area with purpose. Diop relieves him of the ball with a well-timed tackle.
16 min Lots of endeavour and purposeful passing, particularly from Fulham, but no real chances for either side yet. No imaginary ones either.
13 min The Fulham supporters break into applause in tribute to Zach Little, a 13-year-old fan who died tragically last week.
9 min Morsy clips the free-kick beyond the far post towards Davis, whose volley back across is cut out. Ipswich regain possession and Davis curls a gorgeous cross that just evades the lunging Szmodics in front of goal. Davis’s left foot has been to Harvard.
8 min Delap turns Lukic 25 yards from goal and is pulled back. Sam Morsy is over the ball…
6 min Fulham are dominating possession. They’re a nice team to watch: fluent and methodical with intelligent movement off the ball.
4 min Timothy Castagne wins the ball high up the field, a perfect excuse to dust off an old favourite.
2 min Both teams have started with a back three as expected. Szmodics is playing as the right-sided No10 for Ipswich with Broadhead on the left.
1 min Fulham, in white, kick off from left to right. Ipswich are wearing their pink change strip due to a clash between football tradition and commercial imperatives. After approximately 1.5 seconds, Delap runs straight into Lukic off the ball and sends him flying. I suspect he knew what he was doing but it wasn’t bad enough for VAR to get involved.
There are no issues with an icy pitch but it still looks like a miserable day at Craven Cottage; the TV cameras are dotted with rainy freckles.
A reminder of the teams
Fulham (possible 3-4-2-1) Leno; Diop, Andersen, Bassey; Castagne, Cairney, Lukic, Robinson; Wilson, Iwobi; Jimenez.
Substitutes: Benda, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Pereira, King, Smith Rowe, Traore, Godo, Muniz.
Ipswich (possible 3-4-2-1) Walton, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Greaves, Johnson, Morsy, Cajuste, Davis; Szmodics, Broadhead; Delap.
Substitutes: Muric, H Clarke, Burgess, Townsend, Phillips, Taylor, Burns, J Clarke, Al-Hamadi.
Referee Darren Bond.
Kieran McKenna has confirmed that Omari Hutchinson injured his groin during the win over Chelsea. Conor Chaplin is also unavailable so Sam Szmodics or Nathan Broadhead will play as the right-sided No10.
“This is a tasty-looking match,” says Jeremy Boyce, “should win v must win. Fulham can coat-tail Villa and City with three points today, while for all their recent heroics, the Tractors are still in deep doo-doo.
“Win today and they leapfrog Wolves and Everton out of the drop zone. Lose today and that will add to the pressure on their future programme. Players on both sides making waves with their great performances (Robinson/Delap), may the better team win! (Or possibly settle for a point.)”
“It’s all very well talking about Fulham’s aspirations,” says Richard Hirst, “but this is Fulham we’re talking about.
“Record this season:
Versus top five W3 D2 L0 Pts 11
Versus bottom five W1 D3 L1 Pts 6
“How Fulhamish is that? And where are Ipswich in the table? So what is the likely outcome?”
You’re a big man, and you’re in good shape
Team news: Hutchinson out
Marco Silva makes one change to the Fulham side that drew with Bournemouth last year. Tom Cairney is preferred to Andreas Pereira in midfield.
Kieran McKenna makes two changes to the Ipswich XI that beat Chelsea so thrillingly. Ben Johnson and Sammie Szmodics replace Wes Burns and the (presumably) injured Omari Hutchinson.
Fulham (possible 3-4-2-1) Leno; Diop, Andersen, Bassey; Castagne, Cairney, Lukic, Robinson; Wilson, Iwobi; Jimenez.
Substitutes: Benda, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Pereira, King, Smith Rowe, Traore, Godo, Muniz.
Ipswich (possible 3-4-2-1) Walton, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Greaves, Johnson, Morsy, Cajuste, Davis; Szmodics, Broadhead; Delap.
Substitutes: Muric, H Clarke, Burgess, Townsend, Phillips, Taylor, Burns, J Clarke, Al-Hamadi.
Referee Darren Bond.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Fulham v Ipswich at Craven Cottage. It should be a fun game between two excellently coached teams who are full of confidence after a recent win over Chelsea.
Fulham have realistic aspirations of playing European football for the first time since 2011-12; a win today would move them ahead of Aston Villa into eighth place, only two points behind Manchester City in sixth.
We all know Ipswich’s target: 17th place and another season in the Premier League. Victory at Craven Cottage would lift them even higher, above Wolves and Everton into 16th place.
There are no issues with the weather. The temperature in west London is around 11 degrees, so only the apocalypse can stop the game proceeding as scheduled.
Kick off 2pm.