Fulham 6 – 2 Birm’ham

Fulham moved five points clear at the top of the Championship table thanks to a relentless 6-2 win at home to struggling Birmingham.

It was a third high-scoring encounter in the space of a week for Marco Silva’s side following a 7-0 romp at Reading and a 6-2 home success at Bristol City’s expense.

Neeskens Kebano, Fabio Carvalho and Tom Cairney added to an own-goal opener, with Birmingham’s Ivan Sunjic pulling one back to make it 4-1 at half-time.

Gary Gardner gave Blues brief hope of an unlikely comeback with a 74th-minute second before Carvalho scored his second and Antonee Robinson helped himself to a sixth.

Fulham’s first came in the 10th minute when Tom Cairney’s deflected pass put Harry Wilson into a crossing position on the right.

The Welshman’s delivery looked perfect for Aleksandar Mitrovic to add to his 27-goal tally but Blues defender Marc Roberts, with doing nothing not an option, got there first to deflect the ball past ex-Fulham keeper Neil Etheridge and into his own net.

Wilson saw a drive ping behind off a defender on the half-hour mark and though Birmingham had kept their shape well since suffering the early setback, their defence was breached again in the 35th minute.

Again Wilson was involved on the right, this time sending defender Denis Odoi forward to launch a cross. Birmingham were caught flat-footed and Kebano raced in ahead of Maxime Colin to fire home a first-time effort past Etheridge.

Goal number three quickly followed in the 38th minute. Kebano was involved again but it was Robinson who claimed the assist as Carvalho nipped in ahead of Teden Mengi to send a glancing header into the bottom corner.

Carvalho fired an effort at Etheridge straight after when Birmingham failed to clear their lines but Cairney scored from their next attack. Wilson, Kebano and Carvalho exchanged passes before the Fulham captain slotted in off a post while falling on his backside.

Birmingham pulled one back straight away through Sunjic, whose powerful drive from outside the box gave Fulham goalkeeper Marek Rodak no chance as it too went in off an upright.

Blues defender Kristian Pedersen was booked early in the second period for a lunge on Wilson and Lukas Jutkiewicz forced Rodak into a save with a low drive.

Etheridge did well to deny Carvalho at the other end before Fulham’s Harrison Reed was booked for lunging in on Gardner.

Birmingham made it 4-2 in the 74th minute through Gardner’s precision finish. Hernandez robbed substitute Nathaniel Chalobah of possession to allow Pedersen to advance and set up Gardner for a low drive between Rodak and his left-hand post.

Fulham restored their three-goal advantage within seconds, however, when Carvalho danced along the edge of the box before planting a low drive beyond Etheridge’s reach.

Robinson fizzed in another from the edge of the box in stoppage time to complete the rout.

What the managers said…

Fulham’s Marco Silva: “It was a very good result for us, a fantastic score again. It wasn’t our best performance but we created chances and scored goals from some very good attacking moments. I expected us to control better the ball but we were the best team on the pitch and I have to congratulate my players again. Having four different scorers was pleasing. We have a fantastic goal-scorer and it is a good sign that we are able to score six goals even if our top scorer doesn’t score.

“Mitrovic didn’t score but was always involved in everything. He did very well tonight. Even though he didn’t score I am very happy with him. He is really happy. Of course he wants to score but he knows the main thing is the football club. Carvalho is a key player for us. He gave us very good things. It has been a season of up and downs for him and rumours around him that didn’t help but always I see the same commitment.”

Birmingham’s Lee Bowyer: “I thought we started OK, we looked solid, they didn’t really get near our goal. Then we conceded from a lapse of concentration and they punished us every time we went forward. We did better in the second half and the only positives are the two goals – they were both good strikes. Sometimes you have to hold your hand up and say they were better than us, which they were.

“We are disappointed we have conceded six and lost the game but my team was hard-working and honest and we couldn’t even get close to them. They are by far the best team in this league. You have to give Fulham credit
– they are a different animal to my team.”