Fulham 2-3 Crystal Palace: Pierre Sage off the mark as Eagles come from behind at winless Cottagers

· 5 min read

Tyrick Mitchell's double saw Crystal Palace come from behind twice to win 3-2 at Fulham as Pierre Sage recorded his first victory in charge of the Eagles.

The pressure was on Sage and his Fulham counterpart Alvaro Arbeloa heading into this London derby at Craven Cottage after defeats in each of their first two Premier League games.

Cesar Palacios celebrates after scoring Fulham's second goal against Crystal Palace

Image: Cesar Palacios celebrates after scoring Fulham's second goal against Crystal Palace

However, it was the Frenchman who was all smiles at the full-time whistle as he punched the air in front of jubilant Palace fans in the away end after this unlikely three points.

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In stark contrast, however, Arbeola will be left scratching his head at just how his side lost this game having led at the break and finishing with an impressive xG of 3.13, with youngster Josh King outstanding once again.

Fulham's Josh King celebrates with team-mates after his goal against Crystal Palace

Image: Fulham's Josh King celebrates with team-mates after his goal against Crystal Palace

But the defeat means the Cottagers have now lost their opening three matches of a top-flight campaign for just the third time, worryingly being relegated on both previous occasions in 1951/52 and 2020/21.

The key moments from Craven Cottage

11: GOAL! King makes the early breakthrough after Oscar Bobb's run to the byline and Jaydee Canvot's crucial deflection that left Dean Henderson helpless.

Josh King celebrates after opening the scoring for Fulham at Craven Cottage

Image: Josh King celebrates after opening the scoring for Fulham at Craven Cottage

14: GOAL RULED OUT! Daichi Kamada thinks he has immediately levelled matters after touching home Yeremy Pino's cross from the left, only for a tight VAR call to go against the Japan midfielder.

33: SAVE! Henderson shows impressive near-post reactions to keep out Timothy Castagne's close-range effort in front of England boss Thomas Tuchel.

35: GOAL! Eddie Nketiah feeds Mitchell in space down the left and the full back blasts a powerful drive past Leno at his near post.

42: GOAL! Palacios restores the hosts' lead just before half-time after great work down the left from King to dummy Richards, with the midfielder in the right place to smash home after Henderson had denied Gonzalo Garcia.

54: GOAL! Mitchell nets his second of the game, although only after Garcia somehow failed to clear his weak effort.

Tyrick Mitchell celebrates scoring Palace's opener

Image: Tyrick Mitchell celebrates scoring Palace's opener

77: GOAL! Chilwell completes the comeback after Leno appeared to bring down Khalaili, only for the sub to stroke home into the empty net.

What the managers said...

Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa:

"Three games, three losses, so it's difficult, and now you are thinking that we have to go to Anfield, Manchester United is coming to Craven Cottage, so you can see two very difficult games.

"Also in the Carabao Cup we have to go face West Ham United, so not easy, but we knew this month it was going to be a very tough month.

"But I told my players this month will not define our entire season. I think they are working so hard, they are giving everything they have, and with this mentality, with this character, I am sure that win will come."

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Palace boss Pierre Sage:

"I have to accept the story of today because that was the context of the game," he said when asked about the openness of the match.

"But I have to change things and to improve the way of defending with the players, because we were too open in the first half and not very well-coordinated.

"That's why they scored the second goal especially, but they had a lot of opportunities, and we took the first goal after a mistake in the build-up and we have to improve that too.

"That's why today the lesson is free, because we won, but we are aware of the conditions of this victory."

What the result means and next fixtures...

  • Fulham fixtures
  • Crystal Palace fixtures
  • Premier League Fixtures

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